"I hope so," Nobunaga said noncommittally, "and you should reply to Kiyama Castle as soon as possible!" ”

"Yes. In the next retirement. Matsunaga stood up, bowed, and turned away.

When his figure disappeared outside the door, Nobunaga twisted his neck and propped his right arm onto the table next to his seat.

"For Matsunaga, the old fox, you really can't take it lightly!" He sighed.

"Since the lord knows, then the minister will not say anything...... His Majesty thought that the lord was moved by the words relayed by Matsunama. I said.

However, there is a lot of truth in his statement. To stabilize and rectify the affairs of Kinai, we must also rely on his strength for the time being! ”

"The Lord is a wise man." I owe it.

"Okay, let's not talk about him," Nobunaga waved his hand as if to drive away an annoying fly, "how?" Went well along the way, right? ”

"The road went pretty well. It's just that I didn't expect Kishiwa Tada Castle to be successfully adjusted by the Matsunaga family, and the result was a trip for nothing. It was like a punch that was empty, and I felt a little depressed. I replied truthfully.

"Don't worry, Kishiwada Castle will still be handed over to you," Nobunaga laughed, "The affairs of Mie Castle and Isewan have already been arranged, right?" ”

"Yes...... I also want to thank the lord for classifying the Nine Ghosts Jialong as his subordinates and his subordinates, so as to avoid the worries of his subordinates. ”

"Then I'll be relieved," Nobunaga nodded, "and for the next period of time, the family will focus on Minami-Omi and stabilize the situation in Kinai." Your mission is to concentrate on managing Shimowazumi, protecting Sakaicho in Kamiwazumi, and blocking the sea passage of the Miyoshi family into Hanoi and Izumi. At the beginning of the month, such a thing must not happen again! ”

"Your Majesty must live up to your mission." I said.

"In terms of territory, Matsuura Soqing and Terada Ichiya have made a great contribution this time, and I have already given the Andu document, so there are only six thousand stone territory......" Nobunaga muttered, "Then I will give you the name of guardian and allow you to dominate the Shimokawazumi clan." ”

"Shouldn't this be responsible?" I asked curiously.

"Haha! Now that the family has entered the country, the situation should be different. Moreover, this is also to show the prestige of the family to Kinai! Nobunaga said happily, as if pleased to see my surprised expression.

This appointment was really unexpected to me.

Strictly speaking, Nobunaga did not have the authority to appoint guardians, which was the prerogative of the shogunate or the stewardship. For example, the Oda family itself is the guardian appointed by the Spo family; And the original guardian of Shimokawa Spring, Matsuura Hizen, was appointed by the former management leader Miyoshi Chokei.

Maybe he thought that he resigned from the post of leader last time, and he might have given the wrong signal to the Kinai wealthy family, and felt that the Oda family had no intention of intriguing about the affairs of Kinai, so he appointed one this time to correct the thoughts of the wealthy family? It's quite possible.

In December last year, Ashikaga Yoshiaki appointed Katsumasa Ikeda Castle as the guardian of Settsu, Yoshitsugu Miyoshi of Kawachi Wakae Castle, and Takayama Takamasa of Takaya Castle as the guardian of Kawachi Semi-Kingdom...... I roughly understood Nobunaga's intentions.

In other words, this appointment was not only a declaration of his authority to Kinai, but also a protest and hint to Yoshiaki, reminding him not to overstep his duty. Of course, I was also rewarded for supporting Nobuo Kitabatake's prestige twice and relinquishing his position as the general of Ise-kuni in the return of the Enoe.

"It's really a shame to be able to become the first to be under the command of the lord," I bowed down to Nobunaga, "then your subordinates will bow down, and you will be loyal to the lord's family!" ”

"I'm relieved of your righteousness," Nobunaga nodded, "So be it!" I'll give you the official paperwork later. ”

……，…… Becoming a guardian is undoubtedly a leap forward in personal and family status. When the news reached the house, everyone rejoiced, and the joy did not need to be detailed.

However, Ashikaga Yoshiaki didn't seem to be aware of it, or he just ignored Nobunaga's meaning. On January 15, in order to reward Itami and Wada Yumasa for their efforts in the Miyoshi Rebellion, he again issued an imperial letter and appointed the two of them and Ikeda Katsumasa to serve as the guardians of Settsu.

Now Nobunaga was really angry. The day after Ashikaga Yoshiaki issued the order, he served the "Nine Articles of the Imperial Palace" to Ashikaga Yoshiaki through Akechi Mitsuhide, which explicitly prohibited Yoshiaki's power to appoint guardians and guardians. In addition, there are two very important contents, one is that the shogunate cannot directly accept lawsuits, and must go through two commissioners; Second, the shogunate was dispatched by the public and did not need to be ordered by the shogun.

In other words, the general's executive power was to be limited, the judicial power was to be vested in the administration, and the pro-guard army was under the command of both sides at the same time. In addition, the shogun appointed his own public servants, imperial ministers, and Shinji officials to inform Oda that they should contact the imperial court to obtain permission from Oda.

This document gave Yoshiaki a slap in the face, and it is said that when it was read, he glared angrily at Akechi Mitsuhide, almost gritting his teeth so that he did not explode on the spot. Although he finally accepted the paperwork, his gratitude to the Oda family would surely disappear for the most part.

Even if Nobunaga had rebuilt Nijo Castle for Yoshiaki, it would not have been able to repair the rift caused by this incident.

At the same time, because of Akechi Mitsuhide's performance, he also had doubts about Hosokawa Fujitaka, who was close to the Oda family. Soon after, he ordered Fujitaka's brother Mibuchi Fujiei to be stationed in Fushimi in the south of Kyoto to deal with the affairs of Kii County, which was originally under the jurisdiction of Fujitaka, for a very decent reason, because Hosokawa Fujitaka had already entered Katsuryuji Castle in the Nagaoka area of the former Otohiro County, and it was inconvenient to control the affairs of Kii County remotely.

Then, in order to win over Yoshitsugu Miyoshi, who also sent troops to help, Ashikaga Yoshiaki married his sister to him. At the beginning, the Miyoshi family forced Yoshiki to marry the princess of the Ashikaga family, but Yoshiki flatly refused, and now he has fulfilled his wish.

He also gave the puppet leader Hosokawa Nobumoto to be biased and asked him to change his name to Hosokawa Akimoto; The thirteen-year-old sister-in-law of Sekibai Erjo Harura was also in Yuanfu, and he also bowed to his partiality, named Nijo Akishi, and was named the five attendants.

None of this went beyond the boundaries set by Nobunaga, and Nobunaga could not interfere with him. However, Nobunaga also had his countermeasures. From Minami Omi, he followed Ashikaga Yoshiaki all the way and visited Hatakeyama Akitaka twice, and soon married Nobunaga's sister, and the dowry was the original residence of the Miyoshi family, Iimori Castle.

There are four key castles in Hanoi, the earliest Takaya Castle is the ancestral residence of the Hatakeyama Kingo clan, which is currently in the hands of Hatakeyama Takamasa; Wakae Castle is the residence of the important minister of the Hatakeyama clan and the guardian of Hanoi on behalf of the Yu Zuo family, but it is currently given to Miyoshi Yoshitsu; Iimori Castle was built by Kizawa Nagamasa, the guardian of Hanoi appointed by the Hatakeyama Suishu family, and Muzawa once rampaged through Hanoi and Yamato, and was later defeated by Miyoshi Chokei, so Iimori Castle became the residence of the Miyoshi family; Finally, there is the castle of Nobukiyama on the border of Hanoi and Yamato, which was built by Kizawa Nagamasa when he attacked Yamato, and was later renovated by Matsunaga Shu and became his bridgehead for his attack on Yamato, and it is still his residence today.

Among the four cities, Iimori Castle is particularly large in scale as the residence of the Miyoshi family, the overlord of Kinai. Nobunaga took this castle as a dowry, and at once compared Yoshiaki's efforts to win over Miyoshi Yoshitsugu, which attracted the attention of the wealthy families in Kinai.

The strongest reaction was the important minister of Hatakeyama Akitaka's brother Takamasa, the Kawachi guardian Yoyuzo Nobu, and the former Kawachi guardian Daiyasumi Munebo, who thought they understood Nobunaga's meaning, so they teamed up to banish Hatakeyama Takamasa to Kii Province and proclaimed Hatakeyama Akitaka as the governor of the Hatakeyama family. This is the second time that Hatakeyama Takamasa has been exiled, and last time he was defeated in the battle of Kyokoji Temple with the Miyoshi family for supremacy in Kinai, but this time he was defeated by his own retainers. So he had no choice but to go to Kii Province and attach himself to Yukawa Naoharu, who controlled the two counties of Arita and Taka. The Yukawa family is a die-hard supporter of Takamasa, and Yukawa Naoharu's father, Naomitsu Yukawa, who was also appointed by Takamasa as the guardian of Hanoi, led 6,000 Yukawa and 8,000 Kii people to support Hatakeyama Takamasa during the Battle of Kyokoji Temple, providing more than one-third of Takamasa's troops for Takamasa, and finally died in battle.

During the Warring States period, in addition to war, marriage was another way to make peace. War is the means of men, and marriage is the territory of women. The situation in Kinai, in this peaceful strategy, gradually changed in the direction favorable to Oda.

As a newly raised important minister in the Oda family, I naturally received this kind of "strategy".

Mitsu became Nobunaga's adopted daughter and married the in-law of the Gamo family, Gamo Fuxiu, as scheduled; Fuyuhime, who was supposed to marry Fuxiu, agreed to marry Keijiro Yoshiro Yoshiro in Miejo, who was two years younger than her, so the Kira family had the status of a quasi-family like Niwa Nagahide, who married Nobuhiro's daughter and Nobunaga's adopted daughter.

Keijiro, as my sister-in-law, was second only to me in the family. Now with the support of the main family, the position is naturally more stable. If Nobunaga is to be judged with malice, if I make a mistake, Nobunaga can order me to retire at any time and support Keijiro as the new head of the family.

In addition, Kazutoyo Yamauchi, who is one of the four assistants of Keijiro, also entered Nobunaga's sight. After his assignment, Chiyo, the younger sister of Keitaka Endo, the lord of Hachiman Castle in Mino County, became the main room of Ichitoyo. It is said that this suggestion was made by Yamauchi Kazutoyo's sister and Mamoru Ando, the main room of his younger brother Ando Go, and it was in line with Nobunaga's established policy of "Nogao integration", and Nobunaga was naturally as good as a stream.

At the end of June, Kishiwada Castle suddenly came to someone I didn't expect: the Takimoto Temple of the Chozong family. He is one of the two famous diplomatic monks in the West, and is known as the "pair of owners" along with the Maori family's Ankokuji Huiqiong. Moreover, he is also the younger brother of Gu Zhongcheng, and since Gu Zhongcheng was personally killed by me on the outskirts of Kyoto, he has been in charge of the foreign affairs of the Changzong family.

When Fujido Takatora came to report, I was in the martial arts training ground to ask Yanagi Yan Sheng for swordsmanship, and Xiujing and Xiao Xia were watching the battle.

Hearing that it was someone from Changzong's family, Xiao Xia rolled his eyes: "People from Changzong's family, what are you doing here?" ”

"Maybe it's to congratulate me on being the guardian!" I smiled.

"How can such a thing be? Since the country's relatives tried to murder His Highness, the two families have been mortal enemies! Xiao Xia's eyes widened suddenly.

"That's not necessarily, didn't my brother behead Gu Zhongcheng with his own hands, but now it was Gu Zhongcheng's younger brother who took the initiative to come and ask to see him." Xiujing said.

"That's right, that's it," I nodded, looking at Xiujing and Xiao Xia, and suddenly became interested, "Xiujing, Xiao Xia, go out with me to meet the people of Changzong and my family!" Xiujing served as the courtesy person, and Xiao Xia replaced Gao Hu as my sword-wielding attendant! ”

"Yes, Your Highness." Xiao Xia took Haiyue diligently.

The three of them came to the main hall, and I sat down on the main seat, Xiao Xia knelt on the back right side with a knife in his hand, and Xiujing sat upright on my lower left.

After a while, a monk in his thirties walked in. He sat down across from me, bowed his hand, and said, "The poor monk Takimoto Temple has not seen His Royal Highness the Captain Saemon. I heard that His Royal Highness has been appointed as the guardian of the Xiahequan Kingdom, which is really gratifying! ”

I gave Xiujing a look, Xiujing understood, and asked loudly: "Excuse me, is the master a monk or a retainer of my family of the Changzong?" ”

"Who is this Highness......?" Takimoto Temple didn't look at the show, but just looked at me and asked.

"This is the younger brother Kira Xiujing, who used to be a member of the Xiangzong family, and was once given the name Zhongshan Tian Taiji by His Royal Highness the Yuan Prince, the master should have heard of it." I replied with a smile.

Takimotoji's eyelids jumped.

"The master hasn't answered the next question yet." Xiujing continued.

"Naturally, the foreign minister is here on behalf of His Royal Highness the Imperial Palace...... "Takimotoji had no choice but to bow down and greet me again," His Royal Highness the Imperial Household Shosuke would like to form a relationship with the Kira family in addition to congratulating His Royal Highness the Saemon Captain, so that the friendly relationship between the two families will be even more stable. ”

Friendly relations? Is there a relationship between the Kira family and the Chosamune family? In response, I beheaded Gu Zhongcheng, who was in charge of foreign affairs. Yuanqin's younger brother Qinzhen forcibly married my sister, but it was for the sake of the justifiable annexation of the Kira family.

The Changzong family is very good at taking advantage of in-laws. The three most successful diplomatic moves of the previous generation of the head of the family were all achieved through marriage. The first time was when he had just restored his old collar, he married his sister to a nearby wealthy family, Yoshida Shutaka, so that he successfully gained a firm foothold and got an excellent staff officer; The second time was to marry his daughter to the son-in-law of the Benshan family, who killed his father's enemy, and reached a peace with the biggest force at the time, and then went to various places without worry; The third time was that after subduing the Chi family, he married another daughter to the Chi family's sister-in-law, Chi Yoriwa, and let the head of the family, Chi Yoriding, retire and bring the Urado naval army under his command.

As for forcibly marrying the daughter of the Kira family and using this opportunity to annex the Kira family, it is not diplomacy, but a conspiracy.

So what is the purpose of the Yuan parents this time?

"Please be specific, Master." I said to Takimotoji Temple.

"Yes." Takimoto Temple has no owe a bow, "My lord wants to marry the princess of my family to His Royal Highness Saemon Captain......"

(To be continued)