Oda Nobunaga is going to meet with Matsudaira Motoyasu in the main hall. Tsuneko Ikeda and I sat cross-legged by the door as our own concierge, opposite Ishikawa Sushimasa and Torii Mototada.

Matsudaira Motoyasu sat down first, and a moment later, Oda Nobunaga came out of the inner room and sat down in front of Motoyasu. He was about to speak, but Matsudaira Motoyasu in front of him had already bowed down deeply: "Senior Brother Yoshifa, Takechiyo has come to visit!" ”

"Takechiyo ......" Nobunaga raised his head and seemed to chew the name in his mouth, and a smile slowly appeared on his face, "Do you remember what happened when you were young......?"

"Yes. The care of my brother has always been in my heart," Matsudaira Motoyasu replied, "horseback riding, fishing, tree climbing, swimming...... There is also sumo, which is taught by the elder brother. ”

"Huh!" Probably thinking of his unscrupulousness when he was a child, Nobunaga couldn't help but smile, and Matsudaira Motoyasu also smiled. For a while, the two were immersed in the burning years of "basic feelings".

"I remember what you thought. But, after all, people have to grow up......" After laughing, Nobunaga nodded slightly, "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting for a long time...... Now tell me what you're here for! ”

Matsudaira Motoyasu bowed again, and his expression changed to solemn: "This time I came to form an alliance with my brother. In the future, I, Yuanyasu, will block all enemies from the east for my brother, so that my brother can attack the west without worry! ”

"I heard...... Your sister-in-law is still in the hands of Imagawa? Nobunaga groaned.

"Regarding this matter, I, Yuankang, have already made plans." Matsudaira Motoyasu replied.

"There are a lot of people in the family who oppose it, right? Can your position be guaranteed? ”

"Please rest assured, brother. There is no difference in loyalty, but there are differences of opinion. After forming an alliance, it is natural to understand how to behave. Yuanyasu replied, "As for my Yuanyasu's position...... Since I came to Cheongju alone and entrusted my surname to my brother, there is really no need for my brother to have any doubts. ”

Then I agreed. From now on, you can attack to the east with confidence! Nobunaga nodded.

"In this case, it is a gratifying thing for both parties."

"Haha, you're right," Nobunaga laughed and shouted to the inside, "Shinhachiro, serve the wine!" I'm going to have a drink with Motoyasu! ”

……，……

When I returned to Kamikawa Castle, I sent gifts to everyone who stayed in the territory. Nana, Konatsu and Yuka get are exquisite kimonos; What was given to Hideki was a well-made waki, and another kimono was given to Hidekei's main room, Asano Yamay; What was given to Yan Song was a fine iron cannon from the Southern Barbarians; What is given to Yamauchi Kazutomi is an increase in the annual salary, and his younger brother is going to be a yuan service this year, and I promise to personally hold a yuan service ceremony for him; What was given to Asano Nagayoshi was a set of "Ancient and Modern Waka Collection"; And Heizo Sakamoto, Manjiro Murakami, Rokuro Wada, Katsujiro Kohata, and Kakusaku Uehara each received a katana.

In addition, Mitsu and Yujin were given two ragdoll dolls, one large and one small, and a turtle that I bought on a whim.

Speaking of which, I don't understand why there are turtles sold in the New Year, and they are still relatively expensive. In my memory, even in China, the formation of a culture of drinking turtle soup and eating bastards seems to have been a matter of recent decades. And there shouldn't be such a atmosphere! In this book, the turtle is a mythical beast, and the turtle is very difficult to catch......

"Father, what is this?" Mitsu asked curiously. Apparently, she had never seen a turtle.

"This is a turtle, it's fun." I replied.

"Huh? How to play? ”

"You see, as soon as it's ready to hit it, it immediately retracts its head and feet into its shell...... But in fact, it's not afraid to hit or smash, you see! "I smashed the turtle to the ground. The turtle rolled a few times and slowly stuck its head out. Seeing that there seemed to be no danger next to him, he continued to stretch out his feet and slowly crawled out.

"Look, yes!" I taught Mitsu in a natural tone, "Don't worry, it has a long life and can live a long time." ”

"Alas, it's not fun......" Mitsu shook her head in disappointment as she saw that the turtle was crawling too slowly and couldn't get out of the room for a while.

"If it's not fun, just cook it and eat it, it tastes good......"

"Your Highness! You can't teach children like that...... Please don't say strange things that will cause trouble to your child! "Yuga passed by the door and heard me. She hurriedly wrapped her shroud with her hand, and hurried into the room to admonish.

Seeing the turtle on the ground again, Yu Jia quickly walked up to him, picked it up like a treasure and handed it to Mitsu: "Mitsu, remember, the turtle represents peace and auspiciousness." If a turtle is released in the first month, the year will be safe...... This is a small turtle, released for children! It's your father's blessing to you! ”

"Yes! Mother-sama, Mitsu knows. Thank you, Father! Mitsu happily took the little turtle and took it to the Kokogawa River outside the city to release it.

Looking at Mitsu's departing figure, Yu Jia turned his head to look at me gratefully, "Your Highness, thank you for your kindness to Mitsu......

"Hehe, it should be!" I quickly replied—I didn't know about it—"This is a dress for you!" ”

"Well, thank you, Your Highness!" Yu Jiaxi diligently went into the room to try on clothes.

All in all, everyone who received the gift was very happy, except for me, who didn't receive any gifts. As the head of the house, this is a natural thing to do, and there is nothing to complain about.

However, someone did bring me a gift.

More than two months later, Kinoshita Tojiro came to Kamikawa Castle and delivered a handful of exquisite picking.

"What does that mean?" I asked, looking at the gift. The military fan is held by the commander-in-chief to command the army, and the military division or the identity of the general can only be used. With my status as a general, I have to be at least one level higher, enough to be an important minister of my family.

"Congratulations to His Royal Highness Xuanjing on his upcoming promotion to general and becoming an important minister of my Oda family!" Yoshiro Toji leaned over to congratulate.

This one...... I haven't done much lately, have I? Could it be that Nobunaga has an urgent task to give me, so he gave me a reward in advance? I had a little idea in my mind.

"Say it! What task does the lord give me Xuanjing? ”

"No, His Highness Xuanjing doesn't know," Fujiyoshiro smiled, "The lord hopes that His Highness Xuanjing will send a naval army to cover my construction of the castle in Sumamata, and persuade Kawakaido to help from the upper reaches of the Kiso River." After the deed was completed, he was sealed with ten thousand stones and promoted to a general! ”

"Whose idea was this?" My face is a little bad.

"It's the next proposition...... "Fujiyoshiro told me the whole thing as if he were doing it.

It turned out that just after the first lunar month, Nobunaga summoned the ministers of Kiyoshu to discuss the construction of a castle in Sumamata. Nobunaga's consideration was that although there were few people to build the castle during the busy farming season, it would definitely be more difficult for the major wealthy clans of Nishimino to gather troops for the sake of farming in their respective territories, so his request was that it must be completed by May. Then, the old Shibata Katsuya led 5,000 men to go, but they were constantly harassed and failed to build the city; In March, the general Mori Kecheng went again and failed again...... Since the most brave and skilled men and those who were most familiar with the local terrain failed, no one dared to take on the task again. As a result, the deputy of the Imperial Observatory, the general of Ashigaru Toshiro Kinoshita, jumped out and put forward his considerations.

Fujiyoshiro believes that the key to the task is not to defeat the attacking forces, but to build a castle as soon as possible, and then defend it and slowly improve it internally. He used to work as a timber clerk, and now he is the deputy of the Imperial Observatory who is in charge of repairing the castle, so he is confident in his mission. However, he had to be assisted by Kawanami to bring in large quantities of timber from upstream, and the task of transporting other fortification materials and providing some cover was to rely on my navy......

Actually, I naturally know something about the family's construction of a castle in Sumamata, but since I'm pursuing Tsushima, I don't have to worry about it. I was also trying to see how the monkeys could have accomplished their mission without the support of the people. But he was fine, and hit me with the idea.

After thinking about it, I asked him, "Is this an order from the lord?" ”

"No......" Fujiyoshiro panicked a little, quickly took out a piece of paper from his arms, and handed it to me with both hands.

I took it and saw that it was indeed Nobunaga's handwriting. But he didn't give me a hard order, he just told me to act at my discretion. If you are willing to assist, you will increase the territory of Wanshi and be promoted to a general.

"Monkey, what reward can you get for completing the task?" I put away the letter and put it beside me.

“…… Promoted to serve as a general, the territory of a thousand stones. Fujijiro leaned down, "His Royal Highness Xuanjing, please!" ”

"Huh!" I couldn't help but laugh, "Do you know why the lord didn't give the order directly?" ”

"Please ask His Highness Xuanjing for advice." Fujiyoshiro bowed his head and behaved very sincerely.

"Because the lord knows that he can't fully make up for my loss! If I do what you do, then the Kawanami people will become Mino's enemies, the combined navy will be banned from entering Mino, and I will lose Minono's trade routes, lose tens of thousands of yuan of income every year, and even the entire united navy may fall apart...... Do you think you're the only one who can think of this method? At least, His Royal Highness can also think of it. But he thought he couldn't convince me! ”

Looking at the dead monkey in front of me, I almost wanted to kick him out. Really, I'm not kind to you! I ask for your help to make you stand out in front of Nobunaga; I built the money seat and gave you the opportunity to be promoted to the samurai; If you want to marry Ning Ning, I will help you propose marriage, and I will also give you a bride price to buy a family business...... As a result, you kicked your nose in the face, and used me as a gunman for your own position? Since the establishment of the "sorrel house", the entire Oda family has known my reputation for "loving money as life", but don't you know? I also want to save money to upgrade the navy and open up the offshore shipping lane, and Nobunaga is also very clear about this and has expressed his support, so you want to directly break up my navy? I know why my daughters have a "tsu" in their names!

Hearing the prickly expression in my words and seeing that I was not looking good, the monkey seemed to realize that it had touched my bottom line. He hurriedly apologized: "I really don't know that there is such a big trick in this!" …… This time it is abrupt, please forgive His Royal Highness Xuanjing! ”

After saying that, before I could answer, he went out dejectedly. I looked at his slightly rickety back and felt a little unbearable, but when I thought of my money-making plan and my plan for the water army, I quickly strengthened my determination.

After a while, Xiujing returned to the city from the territory.

"Brother, I just saw His Highness Fujiyoshiro leave disappointed...... Haven't you always had a good relationship? He asked, puzzled.

"That's right......" I told him the whole thing.

After listening to my words, Xiujing frowned: "Brother, do you want to think about this matter again?" ”

"What is there to consider," I disagreed, "The annual income of the water army is not comparable to 30,000 stone territory, what is 10,000 stones?" Also, I finally used my interests to entrap the Hattori Party, and I began to slowly assimilate. If I lose my business, they will definitely part ways with me! What a loss? No, even the lord is embarrassed to give orders directly! ”

"However, it is urgent for the lord to build a castle in Sumamata. This time Fujiyoshiro's request may not be a test for his brother in the main hall. If you pass the test, you are the status of the important minister of the main family, and if you fail the test...... At least the main hall will have some mustard in its heart! Xiujing analyzed.

"Wait!" I stopped him, "What did you just say?" ”

"I said, this could be a test for the main hall...... Last time, my brother was promoted to serve as a general, didn't he give up Haiyue in exchange? Maybe this time it will be necessary to give up something. Xiujing said.

"No, it's the previous sentence!"

"It is urgent for the main family to build a castle in Sumamata......

"That's right!" I shouted, "Quickly send someone to chase Fujiyoshiro back, I made a mistake...... No, Xiujing, you ride a horse to catch up with it yourself! ”

"Yes. Brother! Xiujing agreed and went out quickly.

I breathed a sigh of relief, then sighed. I was misled by history just now. Historically, as soon as the Sumamata was built, there was the Battle of Shijo-Karumi, and then Tsuda Nobukiyo rebelled, and Nobunaga built a new castle in Komaki Mountain, and after defeating Nobukiyo, he used it as a base to attack from the nearest Minakano, and controlled the entire Minami, and soon the Mino trio surrendered.

And the Sumamata Castle in Nishimino was too far away from the new castle, so it almost did not play a setting role after it was built, and it was rarely mentioned again, but it only made Kinoshita Toyoshiro famous...... In this case, it would be very uneconomical to lose the entire Meinong trade route and at the cost of the water army falling apart.

But I know this, but Nobunaga doesn't know it now! What he is most urgent and concerned about now is to rebuild Sumamata Castle as a basis for his strategy against Ximinon, and at the same time to protect the newly occupied territory of Hashima.

If I had been negative about this approach at this time, what would he have thought of me? As Xiujing said, this is not another test.

Having said that, even if I know this, if anyone cooperates with Nobunaga to test me, he himself will definitely offend me. Shibata's muscle-filled Owari generals didn't care about offending me, but they didn't have the mind to figure it out and devise it; Sen Kecheng, Jinsen Changjin and others of the Meinong faction may think of it, but they are embarrassed to pull me to lose a lot of money, they have no foundation in Meinong, and their biggest reliance is Mrs. Guidie, and they will not easily offend their colleagues; The Shojo faction and the Muyo faction are considered to be my factions, and Niwa Nagahide, who is loyal to the Oda family, may have made sacrifices for the sake of his own family, but he didn't, but it was a monkey who jumped out......

Is this monkey really too presumptuous to understand the trick, or does he think he's close enough to me? Or did he just know that I had to accept it, so he deliberately jumped out and helped Nobunaga set a test for me, and at the same time sought a chance for himself to get a position?

I suddenly remembered that when I proposed to the Asano family on his behalf, he hid outside the door and listened to the corner, and then suddenly ran through the door to ask Asano Nagakatsu. At that time, although Asano Nagakatsu was angry at his faux pas, he could only pinch his nose and forgive him. Perhaps, after his seemingly reckless appearance, it was carefully planned?

And the night before the Battle of Barrel Sama, his eyes were full of so-called "samurai ambitions...... This is a person who is not willing to be lonely and is full of superiors!

Forget it, be a gunman, be a gunman! Ordinary people can't be if they want to, they don't have that sharpness!

I can only think of myself as self-deprecating.

But, monkeys! You remember it for me! You owe me! You owe Xiujing! Also, after you ascended to the throne, you can be regarded as a person who pursues the faction. When the time comes, I hope you will consider everyone's position. Consider Niwa Nagahide, Murai Sadakatsu, and my position!

"Father! Mitsu's Muppet Doll Falls into the River and Washes Away! Is it okay to buy another one? Mitsu yelled and ran in from outside. Seeing me sitting cross-legged in the hall, her face was very bad, and she was a little worried: "If you lose your father's gift, will you be angry with Mitsu?" ”

"Nothing!" I pulled her to my side with a pleasant face, "Mizu, the puppet doll is not fun...... Shall we catch a little monkey and have fun? ”;