……，…… Unable to broker an alliance with Shibata, Nobutaka left a little disappointed. Listening to his footsteps disappear into the hallway, I thought, this should be the last time I will meet him in private! When he breaks with Hideyoshi, Gifu Castle alone will definitely not be able to stop Hideyoshi, who is good at siege and strategy.

For me, this is probably the most appropriate outcome. With his status, his surname, and his kinship with me, I really don't know how to arrange him. While I'm willing to keep Nobunaga's bloodline, it's obviously much safer to keep Yoshigashi than to keep him and Nobuo. In addition, if he and Yujin's child is born safely, Hideyoshi will definitely send the child to his family, and I am also willing to make proper arrangements at that time.

After that, Hideyoshi also came to Sankokuji Temple in person and discussed with me about the Mori family. He was asked by Kobayakawa Takakei to keep my agreement and not provoke Yoshikawa Motoharu in the San'in area, and he also hoped that I would restrain Shimazu Yoshihiro in Hagi Castle and not always make trouble on the border between Shubo and Iwami. Otherwise, the Mori family will have to re-examine the harmony between the Kira and Hara families.

"Is it Kobayakawa's please?" I'm not surprised.

Although I can be sure that once I break with Hideyoshi, Kobayakawa Takakei will definitely abandon Hideyoshi and join the family, but now that the family and Hideyoshi are still allies, with his strategy, it is natural to think of using Hideyoshi to influence me, so as to avoid a split in the family due to a dispute over diplomatic strategy.

"Yes. So please be sure to restrain Futami Suijun and Shimazu Yoshihiro? Hideyoshi said. His tone was very sincere, as if he genuinely wanted me to be on good terms with the Maori family.

It's just that I know very well in my heart that this is just the appearance of Hideyoshi. He used this seemingly sincere appearance to successfully carry out many adjustments. In fact, however, he was probably looking forward to my breaking with the Maori family! In that case, his strategy will be useful again, at least Yoshikawa Motoharu of San'in will move closer to him very firmly.

"This, I'm afraid it's a little difficult to do!" I sighed, "It's not that I'm going to be hostile to the Maori family. However, there are so many wealthy families in the Kyushu countries, once they stop the infighting, they naturally set their sights outside Kyushu, hoping to expand outward and gain more territory. For example, that Shimazu Yoshihiro, as you have also seen, deliberately set up the city in the border county, and with a territory of only 100,000 stones, he actually dared to provoke his neighbors who were 100,000 stones...... What can I do in the face of this trend? They had to channel them and direct their energies and goals to the Maori family. Otherwise, how can the pressure within Kyushu be vented? ”

"That's a real problem!" Hideyoshi frowned, as if he was worried about me, "However, you can't condone this trend, you have to find a way to restrain them." ”

"Actually, there's already a way," I couldn't help but smile. The way he really planned for me was really interesting: "You should have heard about Xinjing's land inspection in Hizen, right?" ”

"I did hear that," Hideyoshi nodded, "I wonder how it worked?" ”

"The results are very good, Hizen Province has been completely stabilized," I smiled slightly, "Therefore, I am going to implement land inspection throughout Kyushu, fix the territory and status of each wealthy family, and issue an security certificate in the name of my own family, and formally establish the master-slave relationship." At that time, I will have this title, and I will have their oaths, the list of samurai, and the sub-ledger in my hand, and I will be able to control them completely. ”

"Land inspection throughout Kyushu!" Hideyoshi's eyes widened, and his face couldn't help but show surprise, "Isn't this action too big?" …… I mean, in case something happens during the period, for example...... For example, if the Maori family betrays the alliance and so on, won't you be able to send troops? ”

Maori family alliance? Is that possible? I laughed inwardly. Kobayakawa Takakei is full of desire to maintain harmony with his family, I provoked him so much and endured it, how could he provoke me for no reason? Actually, you made a move yourself, and you were afraid that I would interfere, right?

But now you can rest assured, and I won't expose your unspoken concerns.

"It doesn't matter, as long as I have a navy here, no one can invade Shikoku and Kyushu, so I can start this matter with confidence." I said to Hideyoshi with a smile.

“…… That's true! Hideyoshi sighed, "In the past, no one thought that the navy would be so critical. However, now, I have to admire your vision! ”

"So, there was really something unusual in the Maori family during this period, or something happened in Kinai......" Speaking of this, I paused slightly, looked at his face, and sure enough, I found a trace of unnatural expression. This made me feel more clear, but I continued as if nothing happened: "...... Please bother me! ”

"Of course, don't worry." Hideyoshi also tried his best to put on a smile.

"There's one more thing I want to tell you...... I am going to apply to the Imperial Court to take up the position of Elder Genji. ”

"Genji elder!" Hideyoshi's pupils shrank suddenly, "Isn't this position only for shoguns!" ”

"Ah, so you know," I laughed, "but I'm afraid many people have misunderstood this position, and it's not a general's ......."

With that, I briefly explained it to Hideyoshi.

"I see! That's a great way to congratulate! After listening to me explain the origin and tradition of this position, Hideyoshi nodded again and again, his face was unconcealed admiration, "I, Hideyoshi, have been taught today...... Only now did I know how extraordinary His Royal Highness Xuanjing's home was! ”

"What is a house? Just over twenty years ago, I was just a down-and-out little samurai being hunted down! My voice was full of exclamations, "So, heroes don't ask where they come from." For example, His Royal Highness Hideyoshi, although he was born in a peasant family, how many people can compare with his status today? If only I could go further......"

I suddenly stopped talking and bowed my head to Hideyoshi: "In short, only by getting this position can I have enough prestige to do the things of land inspection. I have already spoken to His Highness Nagahide on this point, and I also hope that His Highness Hideyoshi will understand and support him. ”

"Really?" Hideyoshi pondered for a moment, his eyes suddenly flashed, as if he had made up his mind, "In that case, I will show my attitude to Ichijo Sekihaku." ”

"That's totally fine!" I smiled again.

……，…… At the beginning of October of the first year of Yongzhen, the imperial court officially issued an edict that Xuanjing, a descendant of the Kawachi Genji clan descendant of the Qinghe Genji clan, succeeded the Genji elder from the two Genji courtiers, and according to tradition, he was appointed as the Nayan of the Taizheng Palace, and served as the concurrent affairs of the Chunhe Academy and the Scholarship Academy. Since then, the descendants of the Kawachi Genji have also shifted from the Ashikaga family from the third generation of the Genji pillar Yoshiya (the ancestor of the Nitta and Ashikaga families) to the Kira family from the fifth generation of the Genji pillars of the Yoshiryu (Genji lineage, Minamoto Yorito, Minamoto Nobuyoshi, Minamoto Fan Yori, and Minamoto Yoshijing's grandfather).

After taking office, the first thing I did to perform my duties was to apply for official positions for Xiujing, Xinjing, Zhoujing, Yijing, Jingzheng and other sons who had already served Yuanfu. Xiujing was appointed from the fifth to the right Jingliang, Kaijiliang Jingzhaojia; Xinjing was appointed as the fifth major general of the lower left guard, and the Zong family can also be called the Yulin family from now on; Zhou Jingxu was appointed from the six lieutenants of the lower left guard, and opened the house of Jira Jingo; Yijing was appointed as the captain of the left guard from the sixth, and Kaijira Wuwei's house; Keimasa, on the other hand, held the post of Ise Mamoru and had no official position for the time being.

At the same time, because I became the descendant of the Kawachi Genji of the Seiwa Genji clan, the main family actually became the new pillar of the Genji samurai family, so I took the opportunity to change the family crest of the clan from the Gohoni bone fan to the five-leaf sasa gentian of the Genji; The division family continued to use the five bone fans, and at the same time shared the five three tong sub-patterns of the clan; For a family like the Nishiki family, you can only use the family crest of the main family, which is derived from the Ashikaga family (the Nishiki family is a relative of the lowest form of the Ashikaga family), and you can't use the secondary pattern.

When this was done, it was the anniversary of Nobunaga's death. I wore a grape-purple dress embroidered with a golden thread and gentian pattern that I had just made, and I went to pay homage to the head of Daitokuji Temple. The only two national-level retainers who traveled with me were Ikoma's parents and Tsutsui Shunkei, and the rest of the people, except for Niwa Nagahide, who was in charge of the center, had been guarding inside and outside the temple, and they were very tacitly divided into two camps, and worshiped Nobunaga before noon and at noon.

Anyway, the anniversary festival is not as cumbersome as the funeral, there are cumbersome rituals and procedures. Therefore, the retainers could choose to worship at any time.

When they returned to Sangokuji Temple, Ikoma's parents and Tsutsui Shunkei did not leave, but asked about the next strategy.

"Taichang Gong has obtained the position of elder of the Genji clan and married Princess Tokuhime, so it's time to return to Kinai and reintegrate the old department of Taizheng Gong!" Tsutsui Shunqing asked tentatively. His attitude was more humble than before, and his eyes wandered over me from time to time. This kind of grape purple princess straight clothes is nothing in the public family, but in the samurai family, it is almost the exclusive attire of the shogun.

I shook my head: "This matter will be in the hands of His Royal Highness Hideyoshi...... So far, he's done a good job in Kinai, and there's no reason for me to get involved. ”

"This ...... Is Your Highness too constrained in small sections? The Ikoma family was faintly disappointed, "Isn't His Highness still unable to see His Highness Hideyoshi's intentions?" He wants to bring down His Highness Shibata and His Highness Nobutaka, this is an obvious thing, and the next target after that, who else can there be besides His Highness? Then, instead of facing His Royal Highness Hideyoshi, who integrated Kinai, it is better to take advantage of the two parties to hold each other and subdue the two parties one by one! ”

Again, this argument...... Seriously, there are quite a few people who have persuaded me like this. For example, Niwa Nagahide and others wanted to avoid a large-scale civil war in Oda's old department, so as not to damage Nobunaga's reputation after his death, and try to keep his family business and bloodline, after all, the more complete the reshuffle, the more difficult it is to preserve the family business and bloodline of the Oda family. However, I have already made a promise to this, which is the fulfillment of his greatest wish.

I can also understand the relationship between the power and the retainers like Ikoma's parents. Naturally, they want me to take the position as soon as possible, so their position will naturally be guaranteed. However, there will definitely be some differences between the power and the retainers. The retainers advised me that I was too shallow to see the long-term future, especially after I established my family's policy, and wise people such as Hidekei and Shigeharu Takenaka could understand my approach; However, like Ikoma's parents and Tsutsui Shunkei, who are in Kinai and face the conflict between the two camps and the possible storm, they must hope that I will calm down the situation as soon as possible and avoid hurting their family business.

"I've thought about it all, you don't have to worry about anything." I assured him.

"But the situation in Kinai is already very serious. Recently, for the sake of His Royal Highness Yoshiboshi and the position of Gomi, His Royal Highness Gifu Attendant, His Royal Highness Chikuzen Mamoru and His Royal Highness Kiyoshu Attendant (Nobutaka and Nobuo are currently serving as attendants of the five subordinates) have had a great conflict, almost to the point of breaking out," Tsutsui Shunkei leaned over and asked with some concern, "Regarding the matter of His Royal Highness Kihogashi, it is generally believed that His Royal Highness the Gifu Attendant violated the agreement and belongs to the side of the grievance...... So, if Mamoru Chikuzen takes responsibility for the righteousness and asks us to go out to fight against the Gifu attendants, how will we deal with it? ”

That's a question that gets to the point. I nodded approvingly to Tsutsui Shunkei: "The situation you said is very likely to happen. To tell you the truth, when I go back this time, I will soon implement land inspection in the entire Kyushu, so Chikuzen Mamoru will definitely not let go of this opportunity to challenge Nobutaka while I can't intervene on a large scale. When the time comes, you will naturally not be able to refuse, so even if you send troops together...... Of course, you must ensure a certain number of reading skills, and you can neither hand over any form of hostage, nor can you personally go out with the army, and only use half of the troops at the rate of the trusted family elder to help the situation. I believe that in order to gain the posture of the general trend and achieve victory as soon as possible, Chikuzen Mamoru will not be harsh on this. ”

"And what about after the victory?" Ikoma's parents asked, "What should we do if His Highness Hideyoshi suppresses His Highness Nobutaka and His Highness Shibata, and then forcibly persecutes us with the power of victory?" ”

"He's not going to do that until he's done the integration and he's got enough certainty. Because if I can't force you to submit, his prestige will be over," I snorted slightly, "If he is really so anxious, I will immediately dispatch the four [***] forces to join forces in Quanzhou Castle and Mie Castle to support your Hanoi and Yamato. ”

"With the words of Taichang Gong, there will be no worries in Xia," Tsutsui Shunqing solemnly bowed, "Nearly 20 years ago, when Xia was not in charge of housekeeping, he relied on the support of Taichang Gong to keep the family business. After that, Taichang Gong almost pacified the entire Western Kingdom with the momentum of saying, and he also benefited from the kindness and teachings of Taichang Gong many times, and he was now said to have most of the Yamato Kingdom and was honored with the post of guardian...... In short, I will continue to follow Taichang Gong in the future, and I wish Taichang Gong to calm the world as soon as possible! ”

(To be continued)