"Are you telling me what to do?" Nobunaga laughed, "Gather people's hearts? Ha ha! That's exactly what you would say! ”

“…… His Majesty was terrified. I bowed my head.

"I know what you mean," Nobunaga waved his hand, "but the human heart is something that is so difficult to grasp, how can there be so much time to understand?" In my opinion, it is just a matter of choosing the right people to follow and dictating their power...... If someone can't keep up with me, I won't wait for them! ”

"Your Majesty understands." I bowed my head and said. This is indeed Nobunaga's style.

"So, do you think Ieyasu will always follow me?" Nobunaga asked the question again, "You are the only one in the family who has had some contact with him, and you must be able to understand something about him after staying for so long this time, right?" ”

"Your Majesty hasn't gone to see Hamamatsu Castle yet," I replied, "but according to the lord, if you are dealing with the Takeda family, you will definitely be able to use the power of the Tokugawa family." ”

"Oh, that's right...... Let's talk about what you touched! Nobunaga nodded, "I've read the battle report of Higashi-Mikawa, and you and Nobuyasu, as well as the Nagano family, are doing very well...... Then, what do you think of the child's surname? ”

"His Royal Highness Okazaki is an energetic, hearty samurai who attaches great importance to righteousness," I admire Nobuyasu very much, and his words are quite complimentary, "He has few scheming, but he is not stupid; The surname is sometimes a little irritable.,But it's good to listen to the advice of the retainers.。 His Majesty believes that as long as Mikawaden always follows the lord, His Highness Okazaki will definitely carry it out. ”

"Really?" Nobunaga looked satisfied.

"It's just that there seems to be some problems between His Royal Highness Okazaki and Princess Tokuhime......"

Nobunaga was a little surprised: "Nobuysu will talk to you about these things?" ”

"His Royal Highness Okazaki said a little, but it was mainly seen by His Majesty himself," I shook my head gently, "Both of them are people of noble birth, His Royal Highness Okazaki has his insistence, and Princess Tokuji is often self-conscious, and they are not very willing to wronged their surnames to accommodate each other, so there is some disharmony...... Perhaps, it will be better in two years, right? ”

With that, I told Nobunaga about several meetings with Tokuki.

Nobunaga was slightly moved when I talked about the small judgment, and there was a rare mild look on his face. He was silent for a while, then nodded to me: "Well, you have done a good job regarding the five virtues...... After going down, prepare a few gifts and give them to her in my name. ”

"Yes." I bow my head and receive the command.

……，…… On the 10th of February, Nobunaga arrived outside Hamamatsu Castle with an army of 50,000, including 20,000 Owari and 20,000 Ise, and 10,000 Mikawa under Tokugawa Nobuyasu. At the same time, the 20,000 Takeda family troops in Futamatata Castle retreated again, completely broke away from the battle line, and returned to Minami Shinano. In this way, between advancing and retreating, the Tokugawa family's Mikawa and Enoe countries also calmed down.

Seeing that the war was over, Tokugawa Ieyasu sent Ishikawa Shumasa and Sakai Tadaji out of the castle to the military camp and invited Nobunaga to stay in the castle town.

"Thanks to the support of Dan Masako and the hard work of Awaji Temple, my Tokugawa family is really grateful...... My lord has prepared a residence under the city, how about the two of you please move in and enter the city? "They were very courteous.

"What are the Three Rivers Hall doing?" Nobunaga asked. Seeing that Tokugawa Ieyasu did not personally greet him, there was obviously some dissatisfaction in his tone.

Ishikawa Shumasa owes a debt: "Returning to the Bullet Zhenggong, today is the Seventy-Seven Festival of the original soldiers of the three parties, and our lord is holding a ceremony of consolation, so I can't personally greet it for a while...... The dead are great, and the generals have already been reborn as Buddhas, please forgive me! ”

"That's right," Nobunaga thought for a moment, his eyes wandering among the ministers in the tent, and falling on me, who was in charge of the military commission, "Xuanjing! ”

"Your Majesty is here." I bowed my head.

"Let's go and meet the Three Rivers Temple!" He commanded.

Nobunaga's words made Ishikawa Shumasa and Sakai Tadaji change their faces slightly. They came on behalf of Tokugawa Ieyasu to invite Nobunaga and Ieyasu to meet officially. The people who met represented the positions of both sides of the covenant, and in terms of identity, only Nobunaga, who was also a daimyo of the same side, could match Ieyasu, and although my status was not low, after all, I was only a retainer of the Oda family.

However, despite this reasoning, now that Nobunaga is the savior of the Tokugawa family, with 40,000 troops under his command, and even his own young lord is under his command, it is impossible for Ishikawa Shumasa and Sakai Tadaji to oppose anything. Even I, because of the great kindness of saving the Tokugawa family twice, they can't offend.

"Lord, is this appropriate?" Seeing the dilemma of the two of them, I tried to relieve them.

"What's out of place!" Nobunaga glared at me, "You're the Awaji Guardian!" 'Awajiden'! Why is it not appropriate to meet with the 'Three Rivers Temple'? …… What I said to you a few days ago, have you forgotten now! ”

"This ......" I understood Nobunaga's intention. He wanted to take advantage of the current opportunity to put the Tokugawa family under his control, that is, to change the alliance between the two families from the original brotherly alliance to a master-slave alliance. When I mentioned the first two days, it meant that I should stay out of the way and cooperate with him in this transformation.

His intentions are so obvious and so resolute that I can only owe myself: "Your Majesty obeys orders." ”

“…… Then, let's go with Awajiden," Ishikawa Shumasa reluctantly smiled at me, and then respectfully said goodbye to Nobunaga, "The foreign minister retired. ”

With a few attendants, Ishikawa and I left the barracks. Along the way, Sakai Tadaji remained silent except for greetings, as if he was preoccupied; Ishikawa is a little better than him, but it's also a little reluctant.

It's not okay to be stiff like this, and there are some things that I can't say. If they don't cooperate, Tokugawa Ieyasu will probably spend a lot of time...... I thought to myself.

To liven up the atmosphere, I smiled and talked about the meeting ten years ago: "Your Highness Ishikawa, do you remember the last time we met?" ”

"Why don't you remember," Ishikawa Shumasa showed a hint of nostalgia on his face, "At that time, the family was also in crisis, and thanks to the mediation of Awaji Hall and Kujin of Nagashima, the situation was de-escalated...... In the next dang, he was in charge of entertaining Awaji Hall, and all kinds of situations are still fresh in my memory. ”

"Exactly. So, His Royal Highness Ishikawa and I can be regarded as old friends," I smiled and pointed to Ii Nobunao, who was beside me, "This is my adopted son, Ii Nobunao of the Iyi family, nicknamed Tiger Song...... Tiger Song, I've come to see His Highness Ishikawa! ”

"Yes," Iyi Nobunao replied, bowing to Ishikawa Sumasa on the horse, "Ishimi Nobunao, meet His Highness Ishikawa." ”

"Please don't be polite," I heard that it was my adopted son, and Ishikawa Shumasa politely owed it. Then, he suddenly reacted, "It's from the Jing family...... The kid? ”

"Exactly," Jing Yi Xuanzhi bowed down deeply again, "when he and his mother were in trouble, thanks to the kindness of His Royal Highness Ishikawa, he was able to temporarily settle down in Fenglai Temple; Later, my father stayed at Horaiji Temple, which was also arranged by His Royal Highness Ishikawa, so that the relationship between father and son was formed...... Therefore, my mother and my majesty are very grateful to His Royal Highness Ishikawa, and it is a great honor to be able to meet him today and thank him in person! ”

"What a young samurai with a good bearing! He is worthy of being the adopted son of Awaji Temple! Ishikawa Shumasa looked at him with emotion, and there was a sense of regret in his words, "Lingtang Tiger Imperial Front, I heard that it was the general who led the Kira family cavalry and finally defeated Yamaguchi Changjing?" …… The circumstances of life are so impermanent. If there is no kinship, with the anti-Imagawa position and territorial position of the Ii family, it should be subordinate to my Tokugawa family! ”

"At that time, His Royal Highness Okazaki was also in the cavalry and participated in the final raid," I heard Ishikawa Shumasa say, and seeing that Sakai Tadaji beside him had a calm face all the time, I smiled and led the topic to the battle between Tokugawa Nobuyasu and Higashi Mikawa, "I didn't expect His Highness Okazaki to be able to make such a feat in the first battle, and then pacify half of Higashi Mikawa, it's really amazing...... Of course, there is also the foundation laid by His Highness Sakai who has been running Higashi Mikawa for many years! ”

"Awaji Hall has won the prize." Tadaji Sakai's face improved a little.

While speaking, he has entered the castle town of Hamamatsu Castle. The group did not say a word, and Ishikawa Shumasa and Sakai Tadaji led me as the lead, and escorted me into the Daanji Temple under the castle in the bow of the townspeople along the road. Originally, this was a place for Nobunaga and me, but now that Nobunaga is not coming, I have to move in alone.

However, I insisted on staying in the side hall of the guest hall and vacated the main hall arranged by the abbot, and this humble gesture made Ishikawa Shumasa and Sakai Tadaji very grateful.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, I made a request to meet with Tokugawa Ieyasu: "Then, please make arrangements for you two now, and let me go and meet Mikawaden!" ”

This sentence made the two nervous. They have not yet recovered from the Tokugawa family and have come up with a strategy to deal with Nobunaga and maintain their own position.

"This ...... Awaji Hall has worked hard from afar, don't you need to rest for a while? Ishikawa Shumasa hurriedly persuaded.

"It's just a personal meeting," I knew their concerns, and smiled and waved my hand, "so it doesn't represent the position of the Oda family, and it is not used as a formal arrangement!" ”

"However, our lord is holding a very important consolation ceremony, and it is really inconvenient to meet the guests...... This matter has been told to the next two before, isn't it understandable to Dan Zhenggong? Sakai Tadaji said a little stiffly.

"I have a lot of respect for all of you who fought in the Battle of Mikatahara," I nodded, "So, as a token of respect, I'm happy to wait!" ”

"I am very grateful for this affection from Awaji Temple. However, in this way, he was wronged by Awaji Temple...... "Ishikawa Shumasa is a little wronged.

"In this way, my sincerity and respect have been fulfilled!" I said with a smile.

"Awaji Hall has a point," Sakai Tadaji saw that he couldn't shirk it, so he had to agree to my request, "I just went to restore my life, so how about inviting Awaji Hall to enter the city together?" ”

I didn't mind the thorn in his words, and nodded with a smile: "That's very good." ”

……，…… As Ishikawa Shumasa said, Tokugawa Ieyasu in the city was indeed holding a mourning ceremony in the main hall at this time. When we reached the door, the ceremony was not yet complete, but it was almost the end. Tokugawa Ieyasu sat at a table burning incense wood, holding a brush dipped in cinnabar, and transcribed the names of fallen samurai on paper.

This is a very necessary ceremony, from the battle of the three sides to the present, it happens to be the period of "Seven Seven".

However, I always felt that Ieyasu did this mainly to escape the matter of welcoming Nobunaga.

If it was before, there would be no obstacle to greet the two families in person, but now the relationship between the two families is very delicate. The Tokugawa clan went against Nobunaga's intentions and overall strategy, and fought a battle against Mikatahara without authorization, relying on the strength of the Oda clan to expel the strong enemy from the territory. Taking this as an opportunity, the status of the two companies is likely to be re-examined.

However, the ceremony was very serious, so Ishikawa Shumasa and Sakai Tadaji and I stood in the corridor outside the hall without disturbing us.

Half a moment later, Tokugawa Ieyasu finally finished writing all his names, stood up, and incinerated the name paper in the censer.

"I beg your pardon......" Tokugawa Ieyasu took two steps back and bowed deeply, his voice slightly choked.

Seeing his actions, Shumasa Ishikawa and Tadaji Sakai around him were very moved. They also bowed together and saluted the incense table with solemn expressions.

After the salute, Tokugawa Ieyasu turned around and nodded to me, "I'm really sorry that His Highness Rakira has been waiting for so long. ”

"It's okay," I smiled, "I took the initiative to ask the two of you to bring me here." ”

“…… I am very grateful for His Highness Kira's kindness. Tokugawa Ieyasu's face changed slightly, as if he could hear something in my tone.

- Yes, according to the etiquette for the daimyo of the Alliance, I should call myself a "foreign minister." It's just that I was ordered by Nobunaga to raise my posture a little higher.

"And His Royal Highness Tokugawa really doesn't have to blame himself. The samurai died on the battlefield, and he did his duty! I continued, and the address to him was reduced to the level of a division.

"Shuzheng, Tadaji, you two leave first, I have something I want to ask His Highness Kira." Tokugawa Ieyasu said.

"Yes." Ishikawa Shumasa and Sakai Tadaji took the order and left.

"Your Highness Kira," Tokugawa Ieyasu sighed softly, "Gifu's righteous brother, is there any dissatisfaction with me?" ”

I nodded: "Very dissatisfied, indeed. The lord sent two batches of reinforcements to defend the Tokugawa family and Mikawa respectively, and repeatedly asked His Royal Highness Tokugawa to defend the city, but His Royal Highness Tokugawa insisted on going his own way, so that there was the defeat of Mikatahara, and even the son of the old man who was most revered by the lord was killed on the battlefield, and the lord was extremely sad about this...... Moreover, this battle greatly opened the prestige of the Takeda family, and Kinai was small, and the wind was moved, and the intention echoed. If it weren't for the victory of Yasakugawa, wouldn't it have put the family in a very passive situation? ”

"His Royal Highness Kira's words are inappropriate, right?" Tokugawa Ieyasu frowned, "The main family is not a subordinate of the Oda family, and it seems that there is no need to obey the orders of the Oda family. When facing a strong enemy, it is natural to have its own considerations and policies. ”

"Yes, the position of the Tokugawa family is not consistent with the position of the main family," I sat down in the guest seat by myself, "The lord is not at ease, it is precisely this!" ”

(To be continued)