Zhou Jing's tea ceremony was learned from Naotora, a follower of the Miaoshinji sect of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism. In the Kamakura period, a large number of Zen monks went to Mt. Tianmu, the center of Zen Buddhism in China, to learn Buddhism and pass on the habit of making tea and drinking tea, and gradually developed into a tea ceremony with their own characteristics. Because of this, among the bowls used for the tea ceremony, the Tangwu Tianmu tea bowl has always been the most orthodox and valuable category. In addition, there are Karamono Blue Magnetic, Karamono White Magnetic, Koryomono Ido, Goryeo Mishima, and locally produced Japanese tea bowls. And in addition to drinking tea, appreciating the tea bowl is also an important step in the tea ceremony.

As the eldest son of the Kira family and the guardian of Tosa, the tea bowl used by Zhou Jing is naturally very valuable, and it is a famous gift from the chief envoy of the Exploration Mission and the head of Nanzen Temple, Nishixiaocheng. However, at this moment, neither Ichijo nor Gen Zongjue had much thought of tasting tea, let alone appreciating any tea bowls. After drinking tea, they praised me and Zhou Jing twice, and then said goodbye to me and Zhou Jing and left.

Looking at the backs of the two of them leaving in a hurry, Zhou Jing shook his head: "The mood of the two of them is really unstable!" ”

"With the current behavior of the lord, not only is the imperial court and the public family uneasy, but there are also many people in the center of the Oda family who are worried," I sighed, "Wasn't the Yamauchi Kazutomi of the main family also ordered to go to Azuchi to confess a while ago?" Fortunately, he had already withdrawn from the actual operation of Qian Zuo and was only responsible for providing copper materials, so he was not punished like Lin Xiuzhen. ”

"However, when my father said this, it seems that he is deliberately provoking the contradiction between the main hall and the imperial court, what is the purpose of this?" Zhou Jing asked thoughtfully.

"Picking out the contradictions can be said to be a prerequisite for resolving them," I shrugged my shoulders slightly, "Anyway, the matter has come to this point, and it is useless to hide your ears and pretend to be harmonious." The court and the lord must have one side to back down, otherwise a serious conflict will break out. ”

"Conflict? Does the imperial court have the confidence and ability? Zhou Jing questioned.

"The Imperial Court is the Emperor's court. The position of the emperor is the confidence of the imperial court. I replied.

I'm not surprised by Zhou Jing's questioning. From the beginning of a few children to the present, for personal reasons, I have rarely instilled in them the idea that the emperor is a descendant of a god and rules under the mandate of heaven, nor have I made them accept the Shinto faith, and it may be difficult for them to imagine the weight of the emperor and the imperial court in the eyes of ordinary people.

Although both the shogunate and the daimyo had shown little respect for the imperial court since the samurai came to power, and the imperial court was even more embarrassed by the weakness of the central government after the Sengoku period, the authority of the emperor remained deeply entrenched in this era. The public also very much defended the authority of the emperor, and every decision was made in the name of Sekihaku, and the emperor himself did not publicly express any actual opinions, and if the imperial court made a mistake, at most he could change Sekihaku, and the emperor himself would not have any immorality.

Because of this, the Imperial Family has been able to survive as the ruler of the Celestial Family. However, this does not mean that the emperor does not have any authority. In fact, by now, there have been two emperors who have exerted their influence, and both have provoked disputes on a huge scale. One was Emperor Go-Shirakawa at the end of the Heian period, and he fought for peace and prosperity, triggering a duel between the two great samurai families of Genpei; One was Emperor Go-Daigo, who overthrew the Kamakura shogunate in an attempt to revive the power of the public family and the temple, but was resisted by the samurai and went to Yoshino with the three artifacts to establish the Southern Dynasty, triggering a decades-long split in the imperial court.

These two men, known as the "Greatest Tengu of Komoto" because of the turmoil they caused, were also dealt with by Taira Kiyomori and Ashikaga Takashi, the former was once placed under house arrest in the deep palace, and the latter was exiled to Oki Island for a time.

Even if they disturbed the world like this, they were called tengu, and they were not under house arrest and exile for long, and they still enjoyed their honor before and after. However, the current Emperor Shokincho has always been very peaceful, and there is no immorality, and according to the general opinion, he should not be forced into the palace by Nobunaga.

His inaction does not mean that he is incapable of doing so, and if he wishes, with his immaculate reputation and high faith, he will certainly be able to exert a considerable degree of influence and gain a considerable degree of support.

Maybe it's time for me to do some setups...... Thinking of this, I called Toshicho Maeda, who was standing not far from the corridor: "Inuchiyo! ”

"Your Majesty is here!" Maeda Toshicho quickly came to me, bowed down and asked, "What do you command?" ”

"You immediately draft a letter and prepare it for Satake Nobuhide to send to Higo. Let him use my name to make a strategy for the upper and lower Puchi families after the construction. It is said that if the two families are willing to submit, they can share the duties of Chikugo Guardian and Guardian Substitute, and jointly rule the entire Chikugo Kingdom. ”

"Yes." Maeda Toshinaga received the order.

"In addition, let Maeno Keisei lead his fifty people to Iga Province and return to Keimasa's match."

"Yes...... Do I need to bring any words or letters? ”

"No, as long as people go over, Jing Zheng naturally knows what I mean...... That's it. Go ahead! I commanded him.

"Your Majesty takes orders." Maeda Toshinaga bowed again and walked straight away.

"Father, is this going to attack the Ryuzoji family?" Zhou Jing asked me while bowing his head to clean up the tea set.

"Well, yes," I nodded, "I asked the navy to transfer the two families of Matsuura and Omura in the former country of Hizen, but they have actually started the strategy; And this time to adjust the Puchi family is a key step in the strategy of the country of Chigo. ”

With that, I briefly explained to him why.

In today's Chikugo country, there are a total of fifteen forces, known as the fifteen families of the Great Body. Among them, the strength of the Puchi family under Liuchuan Castle in Shanmen County is the strongest, with a territory of up to 120,000 stones; The second is the Kamikachike family in Shimoyama Castle, which is a sub-family, with a territory of 86,000 stones; Again, it is the Kuroki family of Maowei City and the Tanba family, the lord of Mt. Takara, each with a territory of 20,000 stones; The remaining eleven families, each with a territory of only about 10,000 koku, are basically in a position of being subordinate to the Otomo family, the Kamachi family, or the Ouchi family, and cannot have much influence on the ownership and situation of the entire Chikugo country.

A few decades ago, the Kata-Kamachi family was originally a family, and the entire territory was close to 210,000 stones, accounting for 60% of the actual stone height of the entire Chikugo country. The Otomo family was worried that it was too strong to control, so they managed to split it in two, dividing it into the Shimo-Kamachi family in Yamamon-gun and the Kami-kamaike family in Kamizuma-gun. And with the decline of the Otomo family, a while ago, the two Puchi families successively took refuge in Ryuzoji Takanobu. In addition to self-preservation, there are no other thoughts, such as using the name of the Ryuzoji family to unify Chikugo Province and invade the territory of the old lord Otomo family, so as to make his own strength stronger, and then seek to obtain the status of a yorito daimyo...... Isn't the Akizuki family in Chikuzen Province in the north a ready-made example for them?

However, with the position of Ryuzoji Takanobu, it is already a very headache to have a powerful actual reading power retainer like the Akizuki family, and a second one will definitely not be allowed. In this case, when Satake Nobuhide made a promise to the Kamachi family in my name, no matter what the Kamachi family's reaction was, the suspicious and ruthless Ryuzoji Takanobu would take action against the Kamaike family, thus clearing the way for me to become the master of the house as it did in history, and causing the defection of the wealthy families. After all, he knew that he was inferior to me in terms of strength, reputation, and credibility, and the Chikugo guardian job I gave on behalf of the central Oda family was an almost irresistible temptation for the Kamachi family.

And I also believe that as my adopted son and confidant, Satake Nobuhide's words will definitely carry weight; And with his ability and the strategies he has learned, he will definitely be able to do this well...... "So, do you need me to be ready to fight?" Zhou Jing continued to ask.

"I won't use the forces of Iyo and Tosa for the time being," I instructed him after a moment's thought, "but you can prepare first." When it comes to the critical time, it is estimated that you and Xiujing will be used. ”

……，…… In mid-September, news came from Kyushu that Tachibana Michiyuki followed my arrangement and presided over Takahashi Shaoyun's sister-in-law, Chikuma Maru, named Tachibana Tonghu, as the husband of his daughter Chiyo, and inherited the position of governor of the Tachibana family; In addition, Takahashi Shaoyun's second son, Chiwakamaru (Tachibana Naoji), also left the Takahashi family and became the adopted son of the Tachibana family, so all the children of the Takahashi family passed out, and apparently accepted my arrangement, and prepared to succeed the Takahashi family by Takahashi Shaoyun's nephew and Otomo Yoshitomi's sister-in-law.

On the other hand, Nobuhide Satake really lived up to my expectations and successfully completed the strategy of the Chikugo Kamachi family. He skillfully contacted the Kamachi family, conveyed my promise to them, and then "inadvertently" spread the word. When Ryuzoji Takanobu got the news, he immediately executed the hostages left by the Kami-Kamachi family in Saga Castle, and booby-trapped the Hachi-Zhenryan Gate of the Shimo-Kamachi family. His cold handling soon caused an uproar at home, and the rest of the wealthy families in Chikugo Kingdom were even more chilled, and they turned their backs on the Ryuzoji family one after another.

Perhaps, even Puchi Zhenlian himself didn't expect that with his father's kindness in saving the Ryuzoji family in danger twice, Ryuzoji Ryuzoji Takanobu would still be so ruthless! Otherwise, he wouldn't have been fooled easily...... And I don't feel guilty about killing people with a knife like this. In any case, in order to conquer the Ryuzoji family and successfully rule Chikugo Province, it is the best choice to destroy the Kamachi family. Moreover, I am also very contemptuous of Puchi Zhenlian's own conduct. During the Battle of Ogawa the year before last, he pretended to be sick and retreated, taking with him 2,000 troops from his family, but his father and younger brother tragically led a thousand men to raid the Shimazu family's main camp in order to prove their loyalty, and finally both died on the battlefield. From this one incident alone, it is enough to see that he is an unfaithful, unfilial, unscrupulous and unrighteous person, and it is not an exaggeration to kill him.

Since the Otomo family is soft, there is chaos in the Ryuzoji family. Then, the conditions are ripe for supporting the Otomo family and conquering Kitakyushu. I quickly gathered 15,000 troops from Awa and Sanuki and headed for Higo Province. At this time, after several months of integration, Higo Kuni had already converged with Maeda Toshiie, Sawaki Yoshiyuki, Shimazu Iehisa, Satake Nobuhide, Kikuchi Takeshige and others.

Before leaving, I sent a letter to Nobunaga informing him of the preparations for the conquest of the Ryuzoji family. In the letter, I said: "Today, the dragon temple has no way to believe in the road, and he has killed the Puchi family after the construction of the house, so that the family is in chaos, and the conquest is at the right time. Therefore, his subordinates raised troops and re-entered Kyushu to determine the former country for the Lord's fairness. The rest of the old leaders of the Ouchi family, Chikuzen and Fengzen, the lord used to say that if it is calmed, it will be entrusted to His Royal Highness to guard it...... Si Yan is still there, his subordinates dare not be specialized, how to attack, please publicize it. ”

The weight of this letter, I know very well in my heart, that it is still light to decide the fate of the Kitakyushu Ryuzoji family and the Akizuki family, and it is even likely to decide the fate of Nobunaga. I hesitated for a moment when I drew my monogram at the end of the letter, and then I firmly folded it and sealed it, and handed it to my attendants to take to Azuchi Castle. At the same time, in my mind, I have already made some rough inferences about what happened next.

If nothing else, Nobunaga received this letter, and he would definitely send Akechi Mitsuhide to attack Kitakyushu with me. And according to his style, he will presumably call Akechi Mitsuhide directly, announce the recovery of his Tanba 28 stone and Sakamoto Castle 60,000 stone territory, as well as jurisdiction over the San'in domain such as Inaba and Tajima, and then drop a dry sentence like "Go and conquer these two countries, and the territory will be sealed to you"! Next, it's up to Akechi Mitsuhide. After such a long time of brewing, as well as the tandem with the imperial court, he should have some ideas of his own in his heart. Then, combined with the previous state of affairs, as well as the feeling of loss after leaving Kinai, this seemingly insecure and formalized transfer close to exile may become the fuse for his outburst.

When I think of Nobunaga reading the letter at Azuchi Castle, I feel a little sad in my heart, in addition to anticipation. In any case, Nobunaga's kindness to me is not insignificant, and I have repaid him with excellent performance in both military strategy and internal affairs. If he can maintain his gentle and wise side, and not be too strong and conceited, I am sure I will be willing to continue to assist!

Of course, this is only my inference based on history, the current situation, and the surnames of each person, and it is not necessarily completely accurate. The actual situation will not be known until the letter is delivered, so another possibility cannot be ruled out, that is, Akechi Mitsuhide was not ready, so he had to resign himself to Kitakyushu to disarm the time bomb around Nobunaga...... If that's the case, I won't be too sorry, so I'll just take it as if I was loyal to Nobunaga once again, and then I'll continue to wait for the next opportunity.

The time will come. There is a saying that the surname determines fate, and I think it makes perfect sense. Nobunaga has some behaviors that are often not understood and approved by the rest of the people; And the arrogance he shows and his own way of doing things like his own name can easily cause all kinds of dissatisfaction and resentment; However, at some times, he was still very negligent in taking precautions, which can be seen from the sneak attack by Sugitani Zenjumibo. In view of these three points, sooner or later, he will pay a heavy price for it.

In this day and age, benevolence and morality are uncommon, but there is never a shortage of conspirators and adventurers.

(To be continued)