Chapter 161: It's better to go back

He is a good samurai, but he wants to be an assassin, and for an assassin, he naturally does not have to have any scruples and mercy. I slammed the knife into half an inch, and finally made him let out a cry of pain.

As if to hide this humiliating cry, he twisted his neck with difficulty, glared at me angrily, and said, "If you want to kill, just do it!" Don't grind! If I, Kuroda Sanzaemon Isseri, frown, frown, I wouldn't be a samurai of the Kuroda family! ”

Kuroda Issei, the adopted son of Takataka Kuroda, and his biological father is Shigetoku Kato, a retainer of Arakimura Shige. At the beginning, Kuroda Takataka was imprisoned by Arakimura Shige, and he was taken care of by Kato Shigetoku in prison, so after the defeat of the Araki family, Kuroda Takataka took him in, and he was treated almost like his sister-in-law Nagamasa. When he grew up, he became the youngest of the Kuroda Eight Tigers, and once served as the shadow warrior of Kuroda Nagamasa, and his descendants inherited the position of Elder Bege of Fukuoka Domain.

"An assassin is an assassin, or what kind of samurai?" I snorted coldly, pulled out the sword, and moved the tip of the knife to his eyes, and a few drops of blood dripped from the tip and splashed on the floor in front of his forehead, "You should know that as an assassin, there is never one end. However, if you are honest about how the gunpowder on the ship came from, and whether it has anything to do with the Suzuki family of the Saga people here, I can let you go on the road happily, or I will gouge out your eyes one by one! ”

"He's just a kid, what can he know? It's just that all the family members were killed, so they risked their lives to take revenge, and the Gongfang Palace couldn't make it difficult for him," Yura Keishide said in a loud voice, relieving Kuroda Kazunari, "So far, there is nothing to keep in the future...... Since the source of saltpeter is now all under the control of the shogunate, Nerai entrusted Saga to prepare a few barrels of gunpowder on his behalf, but because of the rush of the incident, it was not shipped to Kii Province, and it was detained by the Suzuki family in Nahanri Port. However, the Genlai people and the Zaga people are the friendship of several generations, although they are now separated from each other, many middle and lower class wealthy families are still very close, and some people are even in-laws and acquaintances, and it is through these sī relationships that some joints are opened up, so that the gunpowder is secretly taken out. ”

"I see! Then you can go on your way," I nodded, and instructed Chi Yorihe beside me, "Yorihe, give him back his ribs!" ”

Lai He agreed, found out the rib difference that Jingxiu had handed over earlier, and raised his hand to throw it at his feet.

"Xiuxing, send your mother back to the cabin," I looked at the pale face, sighed slightly, and turned to Yuliang Jingxiu, "I will not break my word." Let go of my daughter, and I'll let you kill yourself by seppuku and retain your dignity as a samurai! ”

"Sincerely," Jingxiu replied, dropping the sword hanging on the neck of the Thousand Hands Ji, and looking at his feet with a complicated face, "This rib is still given by the Méng Gongfang Palace in Xia Yuanfu back then......"

He sighed with emotion as he half-squatted to pick up the Muramasa rib made by an Ise swordsmith. However, as soon as he took the ribs into his hand, Senju Ji had already snatched the Taidao on the ground and stabbed him hard into his left xiōng.

This change made many people around exclaim, and they didn't expect that Thousand Hands Ji actually had this courage and swordsmanship. I was also taken aback, and then I was relieved, after all, Senju Ji is the granddaughter of Yagyu Zongyan, and when she was a child, she studied with her uncle Yanagi Yansheng for several years, and at this moment, although her actions were affected by the cumbersome clothes on her body, her courage and swordsmanship were still there after all.

Jingxiu's eyes widened and stared at Senjuhime in disbelief, with a mixture of surprise in her eyes, as well as regret and resentment that she couldn't kill herself like a samurai.

"You...... Bastard! He scolded in a hoarse voice.

"I'm Senjuhime, it's the first time we've met," Senjuhime grimaced and stabbed the knife a few more inches, "It's my mother who injured you just now!" ”

Only then did Xiujing know her identity: "Are you the thousand-armed hime...... Then it is better to die at your hands, and it should be regarded as an apology for accidentally hurting your mother! ”

He dropped his ribs, leaned weakly on the plank behind him, closed his eyes and died.

"I'm here to give you one last ride!" Xiujing suddenly said loudly, strode over, raised the sword and swung it down, drawing a bright knife light on his neck.

Miya, who had just walked into the hatch, occasionally looked back and happened to see this scene. She let out a sad cry and fell limply into Xiuxing's arms.

……，……

In the main hall of the Kira Castle Pavilion, there is the body of Hoshin-in, and there is still a trace of regret on her lifeless face, probably because she didn't see me and Xiujing for the last time!

I sat silently on the side, feeling a little sad. Although she is old, as I said before, even if she dies, there is not much regret, but being poisoned by her own grandson is also a great tragedy, if she knows it, how sad and disappointed she should be!

Xiujing walked over from outside, bowed deeply to the body of Baoxinyuan, and then sat down under me, reporting softly, as if he was worried about disturbing the peace of Baoxinyuan: "Shigehide Suzuki has already arrived, and he is waiting outside. ”

"Oh," I replied casually, "what did he say?" ”

"He brought with him twenty-seven letters of chief, all of whom had been secretly exchanged between Nabanli and Genlai. In addition, he himself held a very delicate empty letter in his hand, and when he saw me, he caressed it very preciously, saying that it was for himself...... He said that he was willing to take responsibility for this matter, but he hoped that his brother would keep the name of his Suzuki family based on the credit for pacifying the Yoshikawa family last year and the people who came to the public at the beginning of the year. ”

"Then keep the Suzuki family and let his sister-in-law, Suzuki Shoichiro, take over the family business...... In addition, it is necessary to dispose of all the root people who live in the territory and completely draw a line with them! ”

"And what about Genraiji Temple?" Xiujing asked again.

"They are scholars, serious cultivators, and the Genlai are pedestrians and dependent nobles, and the two are not one, so there is no need to connect them," I thought for a moment, "Moreover, Chisyuin and Toyoyama Hase-ji take turns to serve as the head of the Shinyi Shingon sect, and this status is guaranteed by me, and it has also been recognized by the imperial court and written into the temple law." In this case, it is not suitable to move them again, anyway, they have already canceled most of their privileges, and it is impossible to gather any more forces. ”

"Brother Mingjian." Xiujing nodded and stopped talking.

"Xiujing, you must think I'm too lenient, right?" I pondered and said, "I am very sorry and sorry about the matter of Lord Hoshin-in. If I had listened to you and Kyung-masa last time and simply arrested Yura Kei-so, this kind of thing wouldn't have happened. ”

"What happened last time has nothing to do with this matter, and my brother has nothing to do with it, so he doesn't need to feel guilty. And my mother didn't die well, and my brother must feel very sorry in his heart," Xiujing shook his head, "I can only say that this is the will of heaven!" Jingxiu should not have been born in the world in the first place. ”

"So, what do you think of Jing Zheng?" I groaned and asked, "If you have to find someone responsible for this matter, Jing Zheng's indiscriminate killing of innocents outside Genrae Temple can be said to be the direct cause of this matter." ”

"Regarding that incident, I remember that my brother had already punished him. He took the initiative to give up the reward for his exploits, wasn't it at the behest of his brother? Xiujing replied, and then thought for a while before continuing cautiously, "Your Majesty thinks that he is also for his family's strategy, and in a way, he is not wrong. It's just that the elder brother and he have their own methods, and as a result, there was a conflict, neither as lenient as the elder brother imagined, nor as Jing Zheng hoped, cutting the grass and roots, which is equivalent to giving up halfway in both aspects, and this is the tragedy. ”

"You have a point," I nodded, "I have always believed that there has been too much killing in this era, and all the rules have long been broken, so I want to be lenient and re-establish the rules in order to completely calm the centuries-old peace and tranquility in the world...... However, Keimasa did not understand this change, and he still practiced the same way as in the Warring States period, thinking that he was maintaining the authority of the shogunate and maintaining our position and that of himself, but in fact it was extremely harmful to government affairs and the world. ”

"This kind of ambition is also the reason why my brother was able to achieve great things and was unanimously supported by many daimyo and ministers," Xiujing thought for a moment, "However, there are still many obstacles in the world, and there are many people who can't recognize the situation like Jingzheng and still stick to their ambitions." Therefore, it may take some time for the elder brother's concept to be implemented, after all, it is not far from the troubled times, and the world has not really calmed down. ”

"Yes, the world hasn't settled down yet, so Jing Zheng's approach is still useful," I smiled bitterly, "Really, if you want to thoroughly implement my philosophy, the first thing to rule out is Jing Zheng...... However, maybe it's because I didn't experience much family affection when I was young, I now attach great importance to family affection, and even Jing Xiu, who is a twin son and has been against many times, is trying her best to fight for it, let alone a biological child like Jing Zheng? ”

"I understand my brother's mood very well." Xiujing nodded.

I understood that he thought I was talking about the loss of my father at a young age, my mother's remarriage to the family of the Kosho family, and the experience of being forced to live in a temple, but I didn't know that I was not the real Keijiro, and I was talking about my own things in another era.

Speaking of which, that experience is really far away! And my deepest memory now is from meeting Xiao Xia, especially the part where I lived together in a mountain hut.

"Xiujing, I've decided! Remove the position of shogun of the shogunate ahead of schedule! I suddenly raised my voice.

"What! At this time? Xiujing was taken aback, "Is this appropriate?" It's about to take a big trip to Kanto! ”

"Then take the position of the general to cheer and cheer for Xinjing's army!"

"Xinjing is still young after all," Xiujing frowned, "The central government, how can it be less of my brother's guidance and mastery?" ”

"What's indispensable? I lived in seclusion for so long the year before last, didn't you do a good job? I raised my head, looked at the sky in the distance, and said meaningfully, "This troubled world will be calm without me." ”

"But......" Xiujing wanted to say something, but I waved to stop him.

"Don't worry, I will still arrange the things that should be arranged...... After the funeral of Hoshin-in-sama, you will return to Kyoto and do two things for me. ”

This is the formal pattern of playing, Xiujing is ready, and bowed his head to me: "Please give me orders." ”

"The first thing is to dismiss Jing Zheng from all his duties, and I cannot allow him to continue to interfere with my established policy...... You tell him that because his injuries have suddenly deteriorated, I will let him recuperate in Kyoto for a while, and that he will be succeeded by Nobumasa Ishitani; The posts of deputy general of the Kanto expedition and general of Tokaido were handed over to the current shogunate Nakai Inobunao. ”

"Xuanzhi has outstanding ability, and he is the lord of Tokaido's Enoe Province and Nishi-Suruga Province, so it is indeed very suitable to succeed him as the deputy general of Zhengdong and the general of Tokaido." The show nodded in agreement.

"In addition, I would like to ask the two elders, Shigeharu Takenaka and Masakatsu Wasuka, to step down and serve as my imperial minister, just like Shinyuki Hosokawa. When the imperial court appoints my ministers, I will also let them take up the position of accepting words from the three powers," I thought about it for a while, and arranged for the successor of the two, "In this way, Ii Xuanzhi, as the current middle elder, can be replaced as the elder of the shogunate of the Reneda family; another elder, who can be handed over to the follower Kamo Xuanxiu; And the position of chief middle elder left by Xuanzhi will be succeeded by the son of Masakatsu and the leader of the family, Bee Suga Keisheng, as a reserve after you retire...... What do you think? ”

"There's no problem with that," Xiujing nodded again, "Zhengsheng is nearly sixty years old, and his health is not good, and he has tried his best to assist Xinjing in the first two years, and there are already some signs of weakness." Let them retire and take care of them, which is also the love and consideration of the elder brother. ”

"Not only that," I sighed slightly, "Nobunao I, Nobuhide Gamo, and Keikatsu Wasuka are all young people with outstanding abilities, brave, resourceful and decisive, and they can also understand my philosophy, as long as they sit firmly in the position of the elder, then with their status as my son-in-law, at least in the next one or two decades, the current pattern can be maintained." No matter how much Shinkei relied on Keimasa, he could not rashly dismiss the elders of the Shogunate, and Keimasa would not have any chance to intervene in the affairs of the shogunate. ”

"What my brother meant, Your Majesty understands." Xiujing owes herself again.

"Then the shogunate and Kyoto will leave it to you!" I solemnly explained, "Xuanzhi and Xuanxiu are both Chuyin's big responsibilities, and during this period of time, I still need you to mention a little more and work hard." ”

"What, isn't my brother going to return to Kyoto?" Xiujing heard what I was saying.

"Yes," I nodded, "Natsu is currently seriously injured and can't travel far, and I'm going to be by her side...... She said that she didn't like Kyoto very much and wanted to live in Kira Castle Pavilion, and I promised to stay with her a long time ago. ”。