"My lord," I said, picking up the folding fan and returning it to Nobunaga, "the merchant is a man who seeks profit, and it is the surname of the heavens; The corrupt style of Buddhism is not a phenomenon that only exists today. In terms of this matter itself, it should be a blessing that the lord discovered the bad signs early. ”

"You're right," Nobunaga nodded, "So, about the Exploration Trade......

Hearing Nobunaga's remarks, Floys understood that the next conversation might involve government affairs. He stood up in amusement, bowed to Nobunaga, and said goodbye, "Allow me to step back first...... Thank you very much Your Highness for your understanding of us. I look forward to having the opportunity to meet His Highness! ”

"There's going to be a chance." Nobunaga gave him such a guarantee with satisfaction.

After Floys left, Nobunaga continued to ask, "How are you preparing for the convoy of the Exploration Trade?" ”

"Returning to the lord, the first of the three 3,000-stone galleons to be built took three and a half months, and was handed over to the young master of Shintaka at the end of last year, and the Wakasa Navy sent people to try the voyage; Now that the construction period of the second ship has passed halfway, according to this schedule, it should be possible to complete the task delivered by the lord ahead of schedule. I replied.

"What about the Ming Mission? Any news? ”

"There's no news yet," I shook my head, but the rest of my words were assured, "but things shouldn't have too many twists and turns." His Majesty estimated that they had arrived in Yanjing last month, and now they must have completed the mission of this trip! ”

"I'm relieved when you say that," Nobunaga was very pleased, "In other words, Nagahide's cargo collection and mission formation work can almost be started?" ”

"There is no problem on Your Majesty's side," I owe it, "It's just that although Your Majesty has reported to the Ming Court that the Guangzhou City Shipping Division is too far away and requested the reopening of the Ningbo Municipal Shipping Division, it is not yet known whether the Ming Court will allow it." Therefore, His Majesty could not determine the route and voyage, nor could the supply quota and cargo volume. ”

"Is there a big difference between going to Guangzhou and going to Ningbo?" Nobunaga asked, puzzled.

"There is a considerable difference," I tried to explain to Nobunaga, "that if it was to Canton, the voyage would be twice as long as to Ningbo, and the provisions would have to be increased accordingly." Not only that, but taking into account the changes in the sea breeze, the possible departure and return times should also be adjusted; Also, depending on the place of transaction, the type of goods shipped out and procured will also vary......"

"You can discuss these things with Changxiu!" Nobunaga waved his hand impatiently, "What I want to talk about is Kii!" ”

"About Kii...... "I'm a little out of tune, why did I suddenly move from the Kana trade to Kii?"

"I got the news that Ashikaga Yoshiaki and his entourage have been funded by Sakai Town merchants and have left Sakai Town to go to Kii Province to attach themselves to Hatakeyama Takamasa, and the Mori family has also sent people, and it seems that there is some contact with Yoshimasa," Nobunaga snorted coldly, obviously remembering the past when Hatakeyama Takamasa refused to surrender, "This is a matter of Nankaido." Since you have time in the past few months, take advantage of the fact that there is no conflict with the Maori family, and first clear out the forces of Hatakeyama Takamasa and the people on the side! ”

Conquer Kii now? I feel a bit of a headache. Kii Province is also a big pit, the domestic Zaga people, the people of the country, Koyasan, Genraiji Temple and Fenhe Temple, none of them are so easy to mess with, if you want to calm down, I'm afraid it will not be easier than the Tsuyozong. Historically, Oda Nobutada and Hideyoshi conquered Kii Province separately, and each time they mobilized nearly 100,000 troops, in order to achieve good results, but they also paid a lot of casualties. For example, when Hideyoshi sent troops, according to the Almanac of the Society of Jesus and the data of Freus's "History of the Shomoto", Hideyoshi's losses were nearly 10,000, and the death toll on the Kii side alone reached more than 15,000.

As it stands, I think it's better to ignore Ashikaga Yoshiaki and let him stay in Kii. Although the temples and shrines in the country are powerful, they basically do not participate in the battles between the samurai. For example, Koyasan, the head of the Jo Shingon sect named after Mt. Hiei of Tendai, has maintained a transcendent attitude for the rest of the year, except for supporting the Southern Dynasties during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, so that after the death of the major names of the Sengoku Period, more than sixty percent of the people set up spiritual shrines here for the safety and sacrifice of their deaths (including Takeda Katsuyori, who sent some gold to Koyasan before the defeat and sent his usual Buddha statues, scriptures, and ribs). Therefore, Ashikaga Yoshiaki can't borrow their power at all, no matter how unwilling he is, all he can do is to make a white dream of defeating Nobunaga in Kii.

However, if an army is sent to attack Kii, the temple forces in the country will definitely resist, and Ashikaga Yoshiaki is likely to move to the territory of the Mori family, colluding with the Mori family and Nobunaga as enemies. When the time comes, not only in Kii, but also in Shikoku and the Seto Inland Sea, I will face a huge challenge, and it will definitely be beyond my ability to cope.

I decided to turn down the task: "Your Majesty feels that I can't afford to do this. ”

"What did you say?" Nobunaga looked at him dissatisfied, "Is it because you can't afford it?" ”

"Exactly, the power of the Kii Kokuji Temple is extremely large, and if you want to calm down, I'm afraid you will have to use the power of the entire Kinai!" I pondered and said, "Now that Ishiyama's Ichijo Sect has not yet been decided, it may take advantage of the chaos at any time, so Your Majesty thinks that it is not the time to conquer Kii. ”

"You're worried about the power of the temple? Worried about the same sect? Nobunaga thought for a moment and laughed, "Don't worry! I didn't let you attack Koyasan...... It is precisely because I know that you are from the Shingon Sect, so I put you in charge of the strategy! It can ease the relationship with Koyasan and Neraiji, and it can also reconcile the Tsuchihashi faction that believes in Shingon Buddhism among the Saga people, and isolate the Suzuki family who believe in the Ichiseuni sect! ”

"Yes. His Majesty received the order. "I breathe a sigh of relief, I can still handle it if it's just Saga Zhong and Hatakeyama Takamasa. Today's Nobunaga, after all, has not gone crazy, and his actions are still measured, and his judgment and strategy are very appropriate.

"Then you go down and prepare." Nobunaga commanded.

……，…… However, at this time, the situation in Echizen Province suddenly changed.

The cause of the incident was that the Echizen guardian Daikatsura Nagatoshi was too harsh. In order to guard against Kaga's Ichimune forces, he actually requisitioned civil servants to build the castle before the spring planting, and strictly ordered that it must be completed before the May agricultural slack period. However, he had only been in charge of Echizen for a few months, and most of the Asakura family's savings had been taken away by Nobunaga, and he could not afford the funds and military rations needed to build the castle, so he had to pay tribute to the large and small samurai lords in the country. As a result, neither the samurai nor the lords were willing to endure it, and first the peasants in the domain raised a rebellion against the civil service and the levies, and then the samurai led by the lord of Fuchu, Tomita Nagashi, also rose up against Katsura Nagatoshi. The two sides converged in mid-February, numbering as many as 30,000, and soon captured the rebuilding castle of Ichijo Valley and slaughtered all of the Guitian Nagatoshi clan.

The next day, Tomita Nagashiro took advantage of the situation to the north and attacked the castle of Kitanosho, where the three generations of officials of the Oda family were located. The third generation of officials sent Asakura Keiken and Asakura Keiyin as envoys to persuade Tomita Nagashige to stop the attack on the condition of withdrawing from Echizen. After that, the three generations of officials fled back to Kyoto and reported to Nobunaga; Tomita Nagashige, on the other hand, killed another powerful man in the country, the Izumi Keigu clan who controlled Ono Prefecture, and claimed to be the guardian of Echizen, taking over the power of a country alone, and sent his younger brother to Kyoto as a hostage, asking Nobunaga to grant him the title of Echizen guardian.

With Nobunaga's surname, under normal circumstances, he would definitely not agree to him—not only did he not agree, but he was likely to be furious and immediately gather troops to fight him. However, at this time, Kaga Ichijomune took the opportunity to act, and it was evident that Shichiri Yorishu, who was stationed in Kaga and was called the "California General" by the believers, gathered 140,000 followers of Ichijomune, crossed Ono County, which had lost the garrison of the Uozi clan and the Ono people, and soon attacked the chaotic Echizen Prefecture. It was this kind of information that made Nobunaga change his mind, and he immediately sent Tomita Nagashige a letter of guardianship and appointment seal, ordering him to resist Ichisho on the spot.

Considering that Tomita Nagashige's strength was not enough and he would definitely not be able to win, and Echizen seemed to be in chaos for a while, Nobunaga gave up his plan to move to Imahama and officially gave the three counties of Ika, Asai, and Sakata, the former leaders of the Kita-Omi Asai family, to Hideyoshi Yura, as a barrier between Minami Omi and Mino, and continued to build present-day Hama Castle. Then, he gathered most of the forces in Kinai and prepared to deal with the Ishiyama Honganji Temple, which was about to move.

In addition, as Nobunaga's ally and a sworn enemy of Kaga and Echichu Ichijomune, Uesugi Kenshin also took the opportunity to attack the castles of Masuyama and Moriyama in Echichu, and extended his power into Kaga Province...... In this way, in just half a month, the entire Kinai and Hokuriku suddenly became a pot of porridge. A large amount of information from the Oda lord's family and his own family poured in, and I was almost dizzy.

However, in addition to the key military information that is full of military situation, battle conditions, casualties, etc., there is an inconspicuous piece of information that has attracted my special attention: on March 3, the head of Nanchan Temple, Renru Jiyao, passed away.

This news made me can't help but be gloomy for a while. After coming to Yueben for more than ten years, Renru Jiyao can be said to be the only real Taoist monk I have ever met, and he is also one of the very few people who makes me feel cordial and willing to be a teacher. Although I have temporarily given up the idea of leaving Shingon Buddhism and converting to Zen Buddhism because of the conquest of Kii, I still hope to continue to communicate with this master. It's just that I've been busy with Keijiro Motofu recently, and I can't find time for a while, but I didn't expect that I would never have a chance again.

With Takenaka Shigeji, who believes in Zen Buddhism, I walked out of the temple and stopped outside the mountain gate. The cloud pearl cherry blossoms on the hillside are crimson like a dream, and the petals are constantly falling, and in the silence, it seems that you can hear the sound of the petals falling to the ground. Thinking that Renru Jiyao invited me to enjoy it next spring last year, and thinking that outside the peaceful place of Kyoto, surrounded by war clouds, even I was about to go on an expedition, I couldn't help but feel some feelings of impermanence in my heart.

Shigeharu Takenaka suddenly coughed a few times, which reminded me of a matter on my mind, so I hurriedly asked, "How are you doing in the past two years?" Are there any special symptoms? ”

"Don't worry, my lord, there's no problem," Shigeharu Takenaka smiled slightly, "It's just that you can't get close to these seasonal flowers, otherwise you won't stop coughing, and your body is extremely itchy...... Therefore, although the cherry blossoms are good, they have not been able to appreciate them carefully, so they can only be viewed from a distance. What a pity! ”

"Is there such a thing?" I asked with a smile, but my heart was relieved. It seems that it is just an allergy to pollen, and there is no major problem, and living in a warm area by the sea for a long time is really good for the body.

"Yes, it always has been. When I was young, during this season, I rarely went out. Shigeharu Takenaka replied.

"Since that's the case, then don't look at it, let's go back to Honnoji Temple first!" I walked forward first, nodded and sighed, "Anyway, it's fine." For the past few years, you've been in charge of the complicated affairs of Mie Castle and Mie Town, and you've had to take time to teach Keijiro, so I'm really worried that you won't be able to hold on...... However, apart from you, there was no one in the family who could take on this heavy responsibility for a while, so I had to work partially. ”

"It's an honor for your subordinates to be entrusted with a heavy responsibility," Shigeharu Takenaka's voice came from the side and back, "Now it's the young lord's Yuanfu, probably to catch up with the Kii expedition, right?" …… To be able to see the heroic appearance of the young master on the battlefield, and the lord's career has a successor, everyone in the family will definitely be moved. ”

"Yes, it's rare that this time I am on the order of the lord to go out alone, and he can be my lieutenant, there are not many opportunities like this!" I sighed slightly, "After the conquest of Maori, he will probably stay in Ise and will not be able to go out!" As the son of a samurai, if you can't perform on the battlefield, there will always be some shortcomings. ”

"The lord doesn't need to worry," Shigeharu Takenaka obviously understood my consideration, and comforted him, "Now that the main hall has swept the world, and the progress is very rapid, when the young lord inherits the family business, I am afraid that there will not be many wars." After that, with the status of the family and the identity of the young master, he is naturally the center of the government, and this is the time for the young master to give full play to his talents. ”

"You're right." I nodded.

If things continue to develop like this, as the son-in-law of the number one force in the family and Nobunaga himself, Keijiro will naturally not be put outside. Judging from the current performance, Keijiro does have a talent for internal affairs, and the people around him, Shigeharu Takenaka, Kazutoyo Yamauchi, and Genyi Maeda, have always been the formulators of the family's internal affairs policy, including the Sanshou system, the ruler law, the city change law, the unified household registration and other innovations and reforms, all of which were implemented from Mie County, and then extended to all the domains of the family, and even the entire Oda family. He has personally experienced the introduction and revision of these policies, and he will naturally get close to Zhu Zhechi after a long period of exposure.

It's just that the world is like a new chess game, who can guarantee that there are no twists and turns? What is said to be tomorrow must be the same as yesterday? Even I can't guarantee a lot of things now, and all I can do is to be prepared and prepared.

(To be continued)