Omi, Azuchi Castle.

Azuchi Castle was built on Mt. Megada, which was originally the headquarters of the local wealthy Mekada family.

Today, Mt. Megada has been renamed Mt. Azuchi, and it is located in the seven-story castle tower on top of Mt. Azuchi, and you can see the entire Lake Biwa to the west.

For the Oda family, if Gifu Castle is the main family's Bubu world, then Azuchi Castle will be the center of the Oda family's Bubu world.

At the end of last year, the construction of Azuchi Castle was completed, and now the governor of the Oda family, Oda Nobutada, has moved the castle from Gifu Castle to Azuchi Castle at the beginning of the year.

Oda Nobutada chose Azuchi Castle as the center of the Oda family's Bubu world because it was closer to than Gifu Castle, and it could be transported quickly to by using Lake Biwa, which was very important for the Oda family to control the center of the world.

At the same time, Azuchi Castle can also contain the Hokuriku Province and prevent the growing Li Xiaofei from crossing the Chuchu Regiment and marching towards.

Now that the lake breeze is rising, Oda Nobutada climbs to the top of the castle tower and overlooks the evening view of Lake Biwa.

At sunset, boats with white sails sail on Lake Biwa.

On the surface of the lake reflecting the red glow, the white sails are like flying white clouds.

Lake Biwa has always been one of Japan's most prosperous waters, from the Jomon period to the current Kanbun boats.

One of the eight views of the Omi, Yabashi Sailing, is described as a sail that returns from Kusatsu and Otsu.

Kusatsu, Otsu is an important port town of Lake Biwa, close to, when Oda Nobunaga shirked the position of shogun given to him by Ashikaga Yoshiaki. However, he possessed several important ports, Kusatsu, Otsu, and Kaimachi, and collected a large amount of money from this trade, and finally formed a strong standing army of the Oda family.

Now Kusatsu. Otsu is still in the hands of Oda Nobutada, and the only outlet to Lake Biwa is the lower reaches of the Yodo River, which is the largest commercial city in Japan.

These three places form a triangle, and in the center is the most prosperous place for water transportation and commerce in Japan, and it is the powerful beating heart of the Oda family's Bubu world.

Oda Nobutada, 22 years old. Turning back to the attic, he closed the door.

Twenty-two years old is not a novice for a samurai, and in the Warring States period, he should have experienced a lot of wars.

But this age is still too young for a house governor to be enough.

After Nobunaga fell to Li Xiao, Oda Nobutada succeeded him as the governor of the family. Three whole years.

The Battle of Nagashino meant the failure of the Oda family's eastward expansion strategy, so Oda Nobutada shifted his goal to the west and continued the legacy of his father's world.

In the Battle of the Tenxia Bubu, the Four Heavenly Kings of Oda were the pioneers of the Oda family. and pawns, fighting on all fronts.

With the exception of Shibata Katsuie, who was subject to the Hida Echichu Army in Hokuriku, the other three major armies all had an advantage on the front.

Among them, I have to mention that the Oda family fought against the Mori family last year.

Oda Nobutada, Akechi Mitsuhide led the legion to Sanyo Province. On the way to support Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

As a result, he was ruled by other Nagashi, and Araki Murashige rebelled one after another, and one of the two was rebelled by the Maori family. One is that Li Xiaowei cooperated with the strategy of Danhou and also slept together.

The rebellion of these two men caused Oda Nobutada to continuously suspend his march to Sanyo Province and return to the same place to quell the rebellion with Akechi Mitsuhide's Army.

Just when Oda Nobutada put down the rebellion of the two, the main army of the Mori family led by Mori Terumoto. He has captured Shangyue Castle and killed Niko Katsuhisa. The good fortune in the mountains cut off the hope of the revival of the Nizi family. …,

Just as the Mori family was about to take advantage of the momentum to move eastward, news came that the Bizen Kuniaku Daimyo Uki family was unstable.

At this time, the Ukita family's daimyo Ukita Naoya attacked the forces of Goto Katsuki of Mimasaka Province and prepared for the Maori family to rebel and defect to the Oda family.

At this time, the rebellion of the Ukita Naoya had not yet been confirmed, but when he heard the news, because he was worried that the flanks would be threatened, even though Mori Terumoto wanted to go straight, he was opposed by the leaders of the various wealthy clans under him, and finally he had to give up.

Although the Maori family is the overlord of Shanyang Mountain, the unification of the territory is not complete, and the countrymen are highly noble, so they are actually just a powerful alliance leader.

This may be the reason why the Maori Yuan said that the Maori family cannot compete for the world.

Of course, as the governor of the family, Mori Terumoto, he naturally wanted to take a step forward in his grandfather's exploits, so he himself was absolutely unwilling to admit this.

As a result, the countrymen and wealthy clans resolutely opposed, and Mori Terumoto could only stop the offensive against Harima and lead the army back to Azuki Province, leaving only Yoshikawa Motoharu to continue in the mountains and attack Tango, thus relieving the Oda family from this rebellion.

Although the castle fell last month, Nishiharima was still in the hands of the Oda family, and Hashiba Hideyoshi immediately returned from the front line with his troops to help Oda Nobutada put down the rebellion.

After several months of counterinsurgency, Besshoji's army was routed and surrounded by Hideyoshi's Nishiki Regiment in Miki Castle.

Araki Murashige's main castle, Arioka Castle, was also captured by the Oda army, and his people fled alone, and all 122 people of the clan were killed by the Oda army with iron cannons and long knives.

The Mori family's failed eastward advance this time not only gave up halfway, but also led to the strengthening of the Oda family's control over the Harima country in, and the scrapping of the two chess pieces that had been planted before, was a big failure.

After Oda Nobutada returned to the room, he stepped forward and reported, "The three adults, Lord, Akechi, Hashiba, and Takigawa, are asking to see you outside the door. ”

Oda's three corps-level generals came together.

When Oda Nobutada heard this, he coughed and cleared his throat, then returned to the main seat and sat upright, and finally said, "Please let the three adults in." ”

Soon after, the stairs rang with the sound of rattling footsteps.

The general of the Army, Akechi Mitsuhide, the general of the Western and Northern Omi Army, Hideyoshi Hashiba, and the general of the Ise Army, Takigawa Kazuyi, arrived together.

Among the three, Takigawa Kazuki was defeated by Nagashino first, and his forces have not eased up, and in the battle to support Tokugawa, his performance was unfavorable, and Oda Nobutada inevitably had some dissatisfaction with such a slack courtier.

As for Akechi Mitsuhide, Hashiba Hideyoshi, who has always performed well, Akechi Mitsuhide has a lofty spirit and speaks appropriately, so he is deeply loved by Oda Nobutada.

In contrast, Hideyoshi Hashiba, who was born from a low background and was short in stature, and Oda Nobutada were a little unwelcome, which was very different from the employment style of the two during Nobunaga's lifetime.

"Tokugawa has rebelled!"

After the three of them entered and sat down, Oda Nobutada said this.

Everyone here, even though they had heard the wind in advance, but when they heard Oda Nobutada say this, they all lowered their heads, especially Takigawa Kazuyi, who lowered his head and bowed deeply.

Oda Nobutada would not scold his retainer angrily like Nobunaga, but this raised eyebrows and his tone was heavy, which already represented a lot of anger.

Takigawa Yiyi lowered his head and said to himself: "My lord, the Takeda Legion is personally presided over by Shin Fan, and there are 30,000 elite soldiers of Kai, and your subordinates have really done their best. ”

Oda Nobutada was just to reprimand Takigawa Kazuyi, if Takigawa Kazuyi just bowed his head and admitted his mistakes, it would have passed, but he refuted it, as a superior person, he hated others to refute his remarks at this moment, which violated his dignity. …,

Oda Nobutada's face sank at the moment, and he shouted: "Takigawa Yiyi, don't you still admit your mistake?" If it weren't for the unfavorable support of Tokugawa, why did Tokugawa go to bed against Takeda, and after Takeda got Tokugawa's help, he was relieved to boldly destroy Uesugi, and the reason for all this was due to the loss of an important ally in the east. ”

"In this way, the hinterland of the family Owari fell into a crisis, and it was directly under the front of the Takeda army."

Oda Nobutada drank so much that Takigawa Kazuyi couldn't step down very much, and he was also an old minister during Nobunaga's reign, so this embarrassment made him lose face.

Everyone here understands that the loss of Mikawa lies in the reason why Oda Nobutada has turned the strategic direction of his family to the west in the past few years, and how can Takigawa Kazuki resist Takeda Nobuyoshi's elite Kai Army after the Battle of Nagashino, the power of the North Ise Army has not recovered.

At this time, Yushiba Hideyoshi on the side said: "My lord, Lord Takikawa is at fault, but he also has difficulties, please remember that he has served his family for many years, please don't reprimand him too much." ”

Oda Nobutada rolled his eyes, but Hashiba Hideyoshi said this very cleverly, and he did not directly attack Oda Nobutada's dignity.

Therefore, Oda Nobutada just snorted his nostrils, and Yushiba Hideyoshi hurriedly gave Takikawa Kazuyi a look.

Takigawa Kazuki's face turned red and he apologized loudly to Oda Nobutada, and then revealed the matter.

At night, the stars are low.

The lake breeze was cold, and Takigawa Kazuki put his hands between his sleeves and stood in front of his house in Azuchi Castle, looking at the moonlight.

When he saw the night, Hashiba Hideyoshi carried a lantern and slowly walked towards him, Takigawa Ichiyoshi stepped forward and said, "Thank you today, Hashiba-sama has relieved me of the siege." ”

After a pause, Takigawa Yiyi said again: "It's just that the lord has a deep grudge against me, so why bother to excuse me and involve yourself." ”

Yushiba Hideyoshi smiled and said: "Lord Takikawa, this is an outward sight, since the death of the right palace, I have always been not valued by the lord, where the battle situation is the most tiring and most dangerous, send me forward." Since we are not valued, I am helping you and helping myself. ”

Takigawa Yiyi shook his head with a wry smile when he heard this, and was silent.

After a long time, Takigawa Yiyi spit out a sentence from his mouth and said: "If the Right Mansion Hall is still in power, why don't I stop today." ”

Takigawa Kazuyi said that it touched the feelings in his heart, and he did have a few tears in his eyes.

Hideyoshi Hashiba couldn't help but cry a few times when he heard this.

The two generals of the Oda family actually wept silently in the moonlight.

Hashiba Hideyoshi said again: "At the moment, there is only Ren Hinata, who is the most important by the lord, and this time he has asked the Son of Heaven to come forward in person through the relationship of the imperial court, and it is likely that he will persuade Honganji to give up his secular position, so he has made a great contribution to his family." ”