I didn't expect that after the news of the tea party came out, a large number of court ministers,

The close Hachimoto samurai and the big merchants from Kyoto and even Quanzhou all wanted to participate in this large-scale tea party, so they all looked for ways to accommodate them. Qian Zongyi, who is scheduled to host the tea party,

After discussing the meeting for a while, they jointly proposed to me that the scale of the tea party could be expanded and the threshold for participation in the event could be lowered, so as to proclaim to the people of Kinai and the rest of the world that they would be happy with the people.

"Your idea is very good," I thought for a moment and affirmed their suggestion, "then a proclamation will be issued in Kyoto, the tea party will be held for nine consecutive days, except for the first day of the new year because His Majesty the Emperor is present, you need an invitation letter to enter, the rest of the eight days will not be banned, all those who love the tea ceremony, whether it is a minister, a samurai, a merchant or a townman, only need to bring a tea kettle, water bottle, wooden spoon and other tea sets, you can get a tatami mat, two reed mats, a Ming country tea cake at the entrance of the place, and choose the location of the tea ceremony, Tea tasting and tea exchange ...... At that time, Yu will also choose a day to come to the venue, and anyone who comes to Yu's tea banquet can drink Yu or Tiger Emperor to order the tea in person. ”

"This will be a rare scene in the history of the tea ceremony!" , Qianzong Yi bowed his head and bowed, "The public palace is so magnificent, and it is really a blessing for us and others in the tea ceremony to support the cause of the tea ceremony so much!" I smiled and nodded: "I also want to favor Master Zongyi, in addition to presiding over the tea party on the first day, please invite fellow masters to participate in the tea party in the next few days............ Without the tea ceremony masters, such a grand tea party may lose a lot of brilliance. ”，

"As it should be." , a thousand noses are easy to respond to.

As a result, on the first day of the ninth lunar month alone, more than 600 daimyo and ministers came to the Shino Tea Party. In addition to the daimyo and high-ranking ministers invited in advance, many median,

The next minister also accompanied Emperor Shokincho and Prince Seihito, and in terms of numbers, they were able to compete with the samurai led by me. During the banquet, the Emperor Masakincho and the quasi-Sannomiya Den shì Fujiwara House (Prince Seihito's biological mother) husband fù are naturally in the main position, Prince Seihito and Prince Fujiwara (Persuasion Temple) Haruko are in the left subordinate, I and the main banquet in Ka, the side room Xiaoxia is in the right subordinate, and the princes and daimyo are arranged in several rows according to the official ranks. At the top of the right are the four people who rushed back from the right and the four people who rushed back and their respective main rooms, and the top of the left are the pardoned former Kaneko Kujo Kanetaka and the main room Takakura Kiko, the right minister Nijo Akimi and the main room Akamatsu clan (Nobunaga's adopted daughter), the Minister of the Interior, Konoe Nobuyin, and the Eagle Division Nobubo who only entered the Eagle Division family two years ago (the fourth son of Nijo Harura, Kujo Kane, Nijo Kaneshi, and the younger brother of the righteous performance monk), Sekihaku Ichijo Neiki did not come, As the emperor's surrogate, according to the ancient system, it is not possible to pay homage to the emperor (Hideyoshi greeted Emperor Goyonari when he served as Sekihaku, and used his situation to make the daimyo swear eternal allegiance This is a special case, anyway, his samurai Sekihaku and Toyotomi surnames are special enough), so although his heir Ichijo was also promoted to the minister of the interior, he was not the head of the family after all, and could only be ranked second.

As compensation for Sekihaku, after this tea party, the second session of the day will be dominated by Ichijo Neiki and I, presided over by Imai Munehisa, who received the seal of the Great Tibetan Minister, and the participants are all ministers with more than three official ranks (not senators) or palace masters who have been appointed to the post of senators, and among the samurai family, that is, I, Shinkage, the three elders, the five middle elders, and Maeda Genyi, who is the secretary of the military family, have this qualification.

If the first tea ceremony lives up to its name, the second is more accurate than a waka party, and even the tea set is replaced by a wine set. After all, the tea ceremony was originally brought by Zen monks known as "samurai Buddhism" from the Chugoku country and carried forward by the people of the town, and now it is mainly popular among the samurai and the traditional interest of these ministers. Forced by the situation,

I had no choice but to follow the crowd's recitation: "The trees by the purple field pond sprout new branches every year: only the sound of jackdaws, lonely as in the past." For a while, it also won the praise of all the ministers.

"As the saying goes, the cuckoo cries in summer, the jackdaw calls the snow, and now that late autumn has arrived, the first snow is not far away!" ，

"This song is Wing Chun on the top, and the sad autumn on the bottom echoes the theme of the whole song lamenting the passing of the years, which is really a rare good sentence!" ，

"It is an honor for us to be able to listen to such autumn songs in such an autumn scene!" "Although the autumn scenery is good, the red leaves will eventually wither, just as people will inevitably turn into dust, ......, I don't know if the song is over, will I be able to meet with the princes next time, and what year will it be?" ，

I frowned slightly, and it was obviously a slightly older minister who said this. In the bones of these ministers, there is an indelible pessimism and a feeling of impermanence about the world, which has been the case since the Heian period, and in recent decades, Kyoto has been repeatedly warned, and the ministers have a difficult livelihood, and they are more accustomed to the ...... of hurting the scene.

Sure enough, immediately after his words, many ministers soon echoed him. Some people were talking and talking, and even infected by their emotions and the atmosphere in the venue, so moved that they silently left two lines of leisurely tears, which made people feel as if they were in the peaceful period hundreds of years ago.

It's a bit of a scorching sight...... I sighed in my heart, and under the pretext that I was too drunk to drink, I said goodbye to Guan Bai and the ministers. And seeing me leave, Xinjing and the others naturally didn't stay long, and left with their families and families, leaving this Ziye venue for those ministers who were gradually entering the state of "ancestor".

Back in Nijo Castle, I sighed and said to Shinkyo: "These ministers, although they are quite affectionate, are too stubborn. ”

"Yes! How can a samurai like me be as gorgeous as Xia Huā, and then he will live up to the meaning of his life", the letter nodded and asked me with a little complaint, "Why did my father take us to these princes' gatherings, and sing such stubborn waka songs?" Now that the Crusade is imminent, such words and phrases are spreading, and it is not so inspiring! ”，

"After all, I will stay in Kyoto in the future, so I will inevitably deal with these ministers, so naturally I will have to follow their way a little", I smiled slightly, "As for being stubborn, it is not enough, right?" That is, the elderly people sigh at will! "Father is right." Xinjing bowed his head in response.

"However, the ministers said that the jackdaw called snow, and it was indeed very reasonable. Now that the weather is getting cooler, you need to go out as soon as possible to pacify Ueno Province before heavy snow falls in the Kanto region. In this way, in the next two or three months, the Hojo family could not send troops to intervene, which was just right for Takigawa Kazuyi and Shimazu Ihisa to clean up the hearts of the people of Ueno Province...... As for the tea party in the remaining days. You don't have to be there anymore. ”

"Yes," Xinjing lowered his head again.

……，……

The ninth day of the ninth month of September was the Chung Yeung Festival, and it was also the last day of the entire Shino Tea Party, and Naotora and I came to the venue for the third time to order tea for everyone at the imperial banquet left by the emperor that day. In consideration of the Chungyang Festival, I specially prepared chrysanthemum sake according to the customs of the Heian period and gave it to the elderly with folding fans and birthday cakes, so as to make the atmosphere of the tea party more enthusiastic. However, when it was close to noon, Konshì, who had been staying at Nijo Castle, suddenly came in a hurry and said something to the guard, Maeda Toshinaga, who hurriedly came to me and whispered to me when he heard this.

"What? Keimasa took out the head of Hideyoshio Fù of Tofukuji Temple and hung it on a Geng bridge to show the public? "I was very surprised. Really! Didn't I say it didn't have to be this way? And although Hideyoshio's head is made of lime and is not so perishable, it is always unsightly to look like it has been dead for more than two months now" "Although they are enemies, they are also former colleagues, and Ning Ning is still the sister of Hidekei and Asano Nagamasa, so why do you have to do this?

I explained a few words to Naoto, got up and came to the crowd, and asked Yamaoka Fujikuro, who reported the news, "Do the elders and the elders know about this matter?" Banshu Daiyana and Asano Daizo didn't stop it? And this kind of thing should be in charge of the Kyoto Institute on behalf of the company, how did Xiuxing express his position? ”

"The Imperial Palace, all the elders and middle elders all know about this, and after discussion, several highnesses unanimously agreed to the practice of Ise Shaoyan, so there is no reason for Lord Sodai to object."

Yamaoka Fujikuro replied respectfully.

How is that? I felt even more strange. The elders and middle elders are headed by Xiujing, he is not such a harsh person, and I personally told him that day that there is no need to show the heads of the two to the public, why would he echo Jing Zheng now?

"Get up and go back to Nijo Castle immediately!" I command the people.

Nijo Castle was soon there, and I stepped down and went straight to the main hall. As I expected, Xiujing, who was in charge, and Jingzheng, who was in charge, were both there, obviously waiting for my consultation.

"What's going on!" I asked Jing Zhengdao with some annoyance.

"Back to my father, according to the information of my subordinates, the first two times you attended the tea party in Ziye, there was a samurai who looked like Kyoto's Shidai mixed in, but Xiuxing did not go to the Shino tea party in those two days. In other words, that person is Keishu Yura, who was wanted before, and now he is trying to get close to you, most likely because he has thoughts that are not good for you. That's why I came up with the idea of using Hideyoshio's head to lure Jingxiu out"...... now that a Gengqiao is surrounded by hidden piles, as long as Jingxiu appears nearby, he will definitely not be able to escape our pursuit, so my father will be free from this heavy threat! Jing Zheng bowed his head and replied.

"Nonsense! There are so many shì guards around me, and he is in public, he is a ronin, what threat can he have? I scolded disapprovingly, "Although you have the job of paying the big eye, the main task at present is to prepare for the eastern expedition to Ueno Country. In terms of public security and safety, the Kyoto Institute and Hattori Masanari and other other projects are in charge, why don't you do your job properly and go beyond the bounds to do this leisure? ”

In the face of my reprimand, Jing Zheng naturally did not dare to defend. But he also looked away a little, and remained silent without saying a word, obviously disapproving in his heart.

"Brother, please calm your anger", Xiujing persuaded on the side, "Although Jing Zheng's move was harsh, there was a reason for it, after all, the safety of my brother is not trivial, and it is always a hidden danger to keep this person............ Not only that, but I heard that he also visited Tokugawa Mikawamori, so maybe he really had a plan. ”

"Xiujing, you don't like this kid so much?" I shook my head, "He visited Mamoru Mikawa just because he fought together in Kai and Settsu in the past, so what does it matter?" Didn't I say that if he is allowed to behave as he does, what if he is from the Tokugawa family,... You said that he had a plot with the Tokugawa family, not to mention that he had no motive, would Tokugawa Mikawa Mamoru also follow him to mess around? As a person who has experienced the world and is very knowledgeable about current affairs, Mikawa Mamoru will not plot such an unwise thing that is uncertain and can easily lead to catastrophe. ”

But Jingxiu is reluctant to invest in his own family, which proves that he is still wary of his own family. In that case, why should my brother be so indulgent? Xiujing continued to advise me disapprovingly, and even mentioned the taboo at home again, "Moreover, as a twin, he should not have been born and should not have stayed in this world." ”

"You might as well talk to Xiuxing about this sentence and ask him what he thinks." I said with emotion, and I couldn't help but think of the events at the beginning of the year.

At that time, Jingxiu came to Quanzhou to see me, I asked Xiuxing to come forward to greet him, and when Jingxiu was initially convinced, he asked Jingxiu his impression of Xiuxing, and Jingxiu told me very frankly: "He is a very enthusiastic person, and he has repeatedly shown me goodwill along the way, which is too naïve, after all, the situation between the two families is so delicate." And I replied to him, "Don't you think that in such a troubled world, such innocence seems very amiable and precious?" And the world is about to be calmed, and then everyone will be in their place, and there is no need for that kind of intrigue ability, otherwise it will become the source of trouble. ”

It was precisely because I cherished this innocence and enthusiasm that I accepted the Ukita Nobu family as my adopted son, gave him the status of the Reneda family, and entrusted Kaizu and Fuyutsu (originally Meijin, but Keishige passed away, and Meizu's husband was going to inherit the Kamikawa family) to Xiuxing and him to take care of.

Xiujing wanted to say something, but I waved my hand to stop: "This matter ends here, there is no need to make any more branches." Keimasa, you quickly return Hideyoshio's head to Tofukuji Temple for burial, and then go to your brother's Shinkei to assist him. ”

"Yes," Jing Zheng reluctantly replied, "so that my father will know that I have prepared all the materials and military rations needed for the expedition, and I can go on the expedition immediately after waiting for my father and brother to give the order." ”

"You're doing a great job, it seems that I underestimated you", I nodded, smiling and comforting him, "I'm glad that you're able to take care of my safety while serving your duties...... However, think about it, with Jingxiu's mind, will it be so easy to be fooled? Even if he had no intention of going against the family, I am afraid that he would be dissatisfied with the family and you, who presided over the matter. ”@。