"It's a matter of course." I smiled and nodded, and called Maeno Nagayasu.

Soon, Jingyi Zhihu also heard the news and rushed to Sang Mingsu. Because she was dealing with ordinary peasant believers, and she needed to be mobile at any time, she only wore a light armor, and she was heroic and feminine, which made my heart warm. Counting the time, a full year has passed since I left last year.

That night, I stayed at Sang Mingsu, and the next time I said goodbye to Jingyi Naohu. Before leaving, I entrusted the 5,000 troops under the command of Nagano Fujitotsu, and cooperated with Jingyi Naohu to clear and suppress all the time. Naturally, he didn't have any opinions.

Back at the Honmaru Castle Tower of Mie Castle, there is still only Yu Jia at home, and the dishes are still in Joruri-in. Following the chanting of the Buddhist scriptures of Baoxinyuan for a year, her temperament became more and more calm, and when she saw me, although she showed a happy look in her eyes, she showed a little reserved appearance in the dignified, not as affectionate as before. Several daughters gathered around her and Baoxinyuan, but they were very cheerful and lively. I looked up and saw two pieces of white paper on the ground not far away, on which I don't know which daughter had copied a small half of the ink drawing.

"Whose is this?" I picked it up with great interest and looked at it.

"Father-sama, it's Haijin!" Yujin pushed Haijin, who was hiding behind Baoxinyuan, in front of me.

"Oh, is it yours?" I asked her with a smile.

Haijin looked at me timidly, and suddenly burst into tears.

"What's going on?" I was baffled.

"Father, Haijin is very shy, and he loves to cry when he sees someone he doesn't know! This year, my brother-in-law came to pick up Sister Mitsu to go to the West Country, and I scared her to cry as soon as we met! Akitsu shouted.

People who don't know me, do you mean me? …… I suddenly felt a little guilty, and a little sad.

When Kaizu was three years old, Nobunaga succeeded in Kamiraku, and after that, I was stationed in Kishiwada Castle and Sumoto Castle, and I was away from home most of the time. I spent two months at home last year, which is the longest time, but most of the time I was busy with government affairs in Sannomaru.

For Haijin, I am indeed an unfamiliar person.

"Alright, Haijin, let's go to the courtyard with grandma to see the flowers!" Baoxinyuan coaxed.

"Yes!" Haijin immediately stopped crying and fled to Baoxinyuan's side in two steps, clutching the corners of her clothes.

"You two come along, too." Baoxinin said, then nodded to me and left with the children, leaving the main hall to me and Nana.

"Nana," I said, thoughtfully, "how is this year?" …… Isn't it too lonely to stay in the monastery? ”

"It's okay, praying for His Highness every day, the concubine is very calm, and the concubine's mood is much more stable," Caicai smiled slightly, "And my mother is very easy to get along with, and there are flowers in the courtyard all year round...... This year, I followed my mother and learned a lot of flower arrangement skills from my concubine. ”

"Really?" I sighed slightly, "Are Keijiro and Keishiro alright?" If you have time, you might as well come here often and get together with Yujin and Qiujin. ”

"Your Highness," Nana reminded me, "Keishiro is only two years old, and he has always been taken care of by Yu Jia and his nursing mother!" ”

"Ah, yes! Look at me, I'm so busy," I smiled to myself, "Anyway, how about you please take care of the children and get along with them more?" ”

"The concubine knows," Nana nodded, "Mother likes children too." There are Yujin and Qiujin, and it is a lot more lively here. Moreover, Keijiro and Keisaburo often come over after finishing their studies at Bodhi Temple. ”

"Then I'll be relieved," I smiled, "but when I was in the city, you left here and went back to the city to live like that?" …… My mother must have agreed. ”

"Yes." Nana bowed her head and replied. She naturally understood what I meant, and glanced at me with a vein in her eyelids, revealing some embarrassment.

When I left Joryuriin and arrived at the Bodhi Temple outside the city, I was still a little sad. It wasn't until I saw Keijiro, Keisaburo, and their group of young attendants practicing swordsmanship that I lifted my spirits and remembered one of the great purposes of returning to the city.

"Hikoyou, Kabei, Konhei, Kotaro!" I called the names of four people.

"Yes!" The four of them stopped practicing, walked up to me and bowed together.

"Kihachi, Keitaro!"

"Yes!" Miyata Mitsuji and Joto Kazuki answered.

"One-on-two, try their level." I commanded.

The two of them took the order together, unloaded their respective swords and ribs, and picked up two wooden knives from the side.

Seeing their movements, led by Keijiro and Keisaburo, everyone stopped practicing one after another and gathered around here.

Keijiro's four attendants glanced at each other, and then divided into two groups with a tacit understanding. One group is Hikoemon, the eldest son of Masakatsu Wasuka and Kotaro, the eldest son of Maeno Nagayasu, and the other is Keijiro's nursing brother Gonhei Hirano and Keijiro's cousin Kabei Ishitani. The two groups of people shouted, and Yan You and Kwon Ping attacked head-on, respectively, and the other two responded on the side.

Miyata Mitsuji and Kazuki Shiroto are both people who have been on the battlefield, and they have a lot of strength, and they each easily block the opponent's advances. They understood what I meant, and after blocking the attack, they didn't take advantage of the situation to fight back, just wandered around to grab the advantageous position, and then met the opponent's next attack. It wasn't until they made three moves that they solemnly took their attitude and officially started to have a relationship.

The swordsmanship is okay, and I can know how to cooperate...... That's about it. I thought to myself. After nearly ten moves, I made a decision, so I stopped talking.

"All four of you are good!" I nodded appreciatively, "You're almost thirteen, aren't you?" Already a good samurai...... Tomorrow I will hold a Yuan Dress ceremony for you, and then I will let you go out with Lord Jingyi! ”

"Yes! Thank you, Lord! All four of them were overjoyed. It is a very honorable thing for the head of the family to personally preside over the Yuan service.

"Father, my brother and I are eleven years old, how about we go out together?" Keijiro gleefully asked.

"What are you anxious about, Keitaro doesn't have a yuan service yet!" I smiled.

"Yes. Everything is arranged by my father. Jing Saburo nodded, his attitude was very respectful and obedient.

"Jing Saburo, you will also have to be in Yuan in two days."

"Huh?" Keijiro looked at his younger brother in surprise, and seemed to mutter. Jing Saburo glanced at me, immediately lowered his head, and answered "yes" in his mouth.

"The one who served you was His Royal Highness Yoshimasa Niki, the guardian of Iga Province. From now on, you will be the child of the Nishiki family, and you will soon succeed to the guardian of Iga Province. I explained gently.

Seven years ago, I had a verbal agreement with Yoshimasa Nishiki. With my help, Yoshimasa Nishiki made this request to Nobunaga as soon as he returned to Iga Province. This would have been a very natural thing, but Yoshimasa Hitoki was already very old, and the eldest son died in battle, and the second son was separated, so it was necessary to establish an heir as soon as possible. Iga Province belonged to Kita-Ise a long time ago, and it is still very closely connected to this day (later Iga, together with Chukita Ise, was given to the Fujido family, and later merged into Mie Prefecture), recruiting the son of Kita-Ise as an adopted son, which can strengthen the connection between the two families and facilitate mutual care.

However, although the Iga country was very barren and the Nishiki family did not have much power, after all, it involved the position of guardian of a country, so Nobunaga did not immediately reply. It wasn't until last year, when Yoshimasa Niki had turned 70 and I had made a great contribution to pacifying the Miyoshi family, that Nobunaga agreed to his request.

This is also equivalent to giving the Iga country to my Kira family, because the Iga Nishiki family will be a branch of my Kira family in the future, and I need to obey the orders of the head of a clan. For this reason, Nobunaga did not give me another position, but only sealed the territory of 45,000 koku in the three prefectures.

Hearing that he could succeed the guard, Jing Saburo couldn't help but be stunned. So far, I'm just a Awaji guardian, and he probably wouldn't have thought that he would become the head of a country before his brother Keijiro!

"What a blessing!" Keijiro patted his younger brother's shoulder hard, "Really...... From now on, you will be just like your father! ”

"Brother...... Father," Keisaburo looked at Keijiro and then at me, and asked hesitantly, "Is that okay?" ”

"What's not to do, the Great Hall has agreed," I said with a smile, "From now on, you are also the head of a country, and you must be more resolute and decisive!" ”

"Yes, children must learn from their fathers!" Jing Saburo smiled at this time.

"Yes." I replied noncommittally.

He probably didn't know that the national affairs of Iga Province were mainly in the hands of the guardian Daifukuchi family, and the Fukuchi family was my close ally, and in order to maintain the relationship between the two families, I couldn't be too strong against the Fukuchi family, so even if he succeeded to the guardian, he probably wouldn't get much power.

However, as a concubine, he has been influenced by his mother Yu Jia since he was a child, and his surname is very obedient, so he may be suitable for such a position!

……，…… The next day, I held a moto-dress ceremony for Wasuka Hikoemon, Maeno (Tsubouchi) Kotaro, Hirano Gonhei, and Ishiya Kabei. Hikoemon was named Wasuka Keikatsu, Kotaro was named Maeno (Tsubouchi) Kyosada, Hirano Gonhei was named Hirano Nagatai, and Ishiya Kabei was named Ishiya Nobumasa. The four of them were each given a Muramasata, a reed-haired horse, and a body-sized body, and followed Ii Nobunao, Miyata Mitsuji, Shiroto Kazuki and others to join the riding team of Jingyi Naoto. The enemy they had to deal with was low in combat effectiveness, and with Miyata, Joto, and others to take care of them, they just had the opportunity to accumulate experience in conquest without danger, and they also exercised their will and learned some ways of battle formation in high-mobility combat.

Then the man sent by Yoshimasa Niki arrived and took Keisaburo to Iga Province. Yoshimasa Hitoki soon held a ceremony for him, named him Keimasa, and succeeded him as the head of the family and the guardian of Iga Province.

The only son left home and went to another country to inherit the family business, and Yu Jia was very sad. However, in front of me, she has been trying to express her joy and open-mindedness. I was very touched by this scene, and in the following paragraph, in addition to paying attention to the war, I also tried to find time to accompany them. After nearly a month, Haijin finally got close to me. For me, it's no less than a mini-tweak!

Over the past month, thanks to the hard work of our side and the Oda Nobubo side, as well as the appropriate measures taken, the situation on the Nagashima side has been brought under control and has not spread within the territory. Elsewhere, however, the situation has taken a new turn.

At the beginning of September, news came from Tsuya in Sakai Town: there was a large-scale unrest in Kinai, and Miyoshi Yoshitsugu and Hatakeyama Akitaka in Hanoi tore their faces and attacked Hatakeyama Akitaka and Hosokawa Akimoto; Tomomasa Ikeda of Settsu expelled his uncle Miyoshi Masakatsu and moved closer to Ashikaga Yoshiaki; In addition, Yamato's Matsunaga Shu is vigorously gathering troops, and the specific target is not yet clear, but Tsutsui Shunkei has already begun to prepare for defense.

The people who informed me of this news were Ishitani Yorichen and the abbot of the Bodhi Temple, Sui Fenghe. The two of them have their own characteristics, Ishiya Laichen has a wide range of knowledge, once served as Shen Cizhong, and has a good understanding of the kinship between the ministers of Beijing and many local forces; Suifeng's thinking is very agile and has a strong ability to analyze and summarize intelligence. The two of them worked together, and it was just right for me to be in charge of Tsuya's intelligence. In addition, since Tsuya has a lot of information, not only in Shikoku, which I am in charge of, but also in the Mori family in Kinai and San'in Sanyo, and even in Hokuriku, Kanto, and Kyushu, it seems that it is not very suitable for any retainer in the family to be in charge of this information...... Only the two of them are very detached in their position at home, and they don't need to have any worries.

My current intelligence system is mainly Tsuya, Koga-gumi, and Iga-gumi. The Koga Group is responsible for the perimeter of Mie Castle and is directly responsible to Shigeharu Takenaka; The Iga group followed my strategy operation, and at the moment it is mainly on the Shikoku side, with Hidekei in charge. Tsuya has the widest range, and wherever the branches open and the merchants go, my intelligence network extends to wherever they go, and all the information is transmitted from each branch to the Mie-cho headquarters, and handed over to Ishiya Yorichen and Suifeng to summarize, and then the corresponding level of secrecy information is shared with each branch, and the total information is transmitted to the branch closest to me, and my close attendant Draw is to collect it.

In addition, Tsuya can also share information on the Iga and Koga groups. The Iga group is contacted by Yoritsu Ishitani, who served General Yoshiki with Hattori Masanari and can cooperate well; Suifeng and Yamaoka Jinglong, Jingzong father and son lived in Kofukuji Temple for a period of time, and they had a relationship with each other, so they were responsible for contacting the Koga group. The news of Matsunaga Xiu's movement was inferred by Sui Feng through some details provided by Yamaoka Keizong.

"The poor monk thinks that Matsunaga Hide's goal should be Kyoto." He said to me.

"Isn't it the Tsutsui family?" I felt a little strange.

"Probably not," Suifeng shook his head, "According to the Koga group, Matsunaga Shu has strengthened the defenses of the border with the Tsutsui family...... If he was going to attack the Tsutsui family, he would never have done such a thing, and the only target around him would be Kyoto. The reason for strengthening the defense is precisely to prevent the Tsutsui family from taking advantage of the situation. ”

(To be continued)