"Don't be afraid, as long as you answer my questions honestly, I will let you leave safely!" Ashikaga Kazuki didn't care much about this bandit leader, and left him mainly to inquire about the recent situation in Kyoto, and as for the other party's life or death, it was a matter of his word.

"Yes...... Big...... Excuse me, adult, and the villain will answer truthfully! "Although this young man is a bandit, but in fact, he is just taking a group of hungry people who are about to starve to death, and he has not killed many people in ordinary times, and now he has fallen into the hands of a person like Ashikaga Kazuki who kills without blinking, and he is naturally frightened, where do you dare to hide it?

Seeing the other party's appearance, Ashikaga Kazuki smiled with satisfaction, and then he spoke again: "Very good, what is your name, what did you do before, why did you rob on the road, and where did the weapon in your hand come from?" ”

Japan has been in war for many years, and all aspects of the domestic materials are greatly scarce, among which metal weapons are extremely lacking, many soldiers under the daimyo can only sharpen bamboo as a weapon, and the knife made of metal is only qualified to be used by samurai, so it is called a katana, and the young man in front of him is obviously not a samurai, but he is holding a metal weapon, although it is already very broken, but it can still be used, which seems very abnormal.

"Lord Qiyu, the villain's name is Saburo Ishibashi......"

"Hey, you actually have a surname, and it's still the Ishibashi clan?" Before Saburo Ishibashi's words could speak, he was immediately interrupted by Ashikaga Kazuki, with a little surprise on his face.

In this era, ordinary Japanese people had only names but no surnames, and generally only those nobles, samurai, big merchants, or people with prestige in villages and towns could have their own surnames, and Ashikaga Kazuki thought that the other party was an ordinary person. But I didn't expect it to be a person with his own surname. The surname Ishibashi is deceptively simple. But in fact, it comes from the famous Seiwa Genji in Japanese history. And coincidentally, their Ashikaga clan is also from the Seiwa Genji, and both surnames are from the Genyoshi clan, which is a relatively close blood surname.

Although this young man named Saburo Ishibashi was not bold, he was extremely good at reading words, and when he saw Ashikaga Kazuki show a somewhat surprised expression when he heard his surname, he immediately guessed that the other party should be very interested in his surname, maybe it could save his life.

Come to think of this. I saw Ishibashi Saburo immediately explained: "Lord Kaiyu, the villain's surname is indeed Ishibashi, and according to my father, our Ishibashi clan was originally a branch of the Genyi clan, and the Genyi clan belongs to the Genji clan, and it is a bloodline that has been diverted from His Majesty the Emperor, but unfortunately our Ishibashi clan has long since declined, and it is not as prominent as other branches of the Genyi clan!" ”

Hearing Ishibashi Saburo talk about the decline of the Ishibashi clan, Ashikaga Kazuki couldn't help but feel a little sympathetic, their Ashikaga clan is also from the Genyoshi clan. Although it was also considered prominent, it is still in decline. The shogun became a puppet of others, and even his freedom was restricted.

Maybe it's because of the same origin and the decline of the family, which makes Ashikaga Kazuki's attitude towards Ishibashi Saburo much better, and then asked about the other party's life experience and the origin of the weapon, Ishibashi Saburo also found a change in Ashikaga Kazuki's attitude, which made him feel a lot more relaxed, and at the same time honestly answered Ashikaga Kazuki's question.

It turned out that although Ishibashi Saburo had a good background, their Ishibashi clan had already declined hundreds of years ago, and the family did not leave them a prominent identity except for retaining the surname Ishibashi, until Ishibashi Saburo's grandfather's generation, their family did some business in Kyoto for a living, although they didn't earn much, but their life was quite rich.

It's a pity that this rich life didn't last long, dozens of years ago, the eighth shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, indulged in alcohol, resulting in the shogun's power falling into the hands of several guardian daimyos, and finally because of the power dispute, coupled with the confrontation on the issue of the shogun's heir, finally made a war break out between several guardian daimyos, which is the famous "Onin Rebellion" in Japanese history.

The main battlefield of the Onin Rebellion was in Kyoto, the entire city of Kyoto was destroyed in the war, Ishibashi Saburo's grandfather and grandmother died in that war, his father narrowly escaped, but the entire family business was destroyed, even several of his brothers and sisters were starved to death after the war, and when he was born, his father could only do some small business to make ends meet, and the whole family was hungry.

Speaking of Ishibashi Saburo is really unlucky, his father finally pulled him up, and married him a wife, but he just got married not long ago, Ashikaga Kazuki's cousin Ashikaga Yoshisai came back with someone to kill, as a result of Kyoto chaos again, many civilians died in the war, this time Ishibashi Saburo's parents did not escape again, their home was attacked by a group of rebels, both parents were killed, Ishibashi Saburo's wife was also taken away, and now life and death are unknown.

When talking about the tragedy in his own home, Ishibashi Saburo was crying, Ashikaga Kazuki couldn't help but sigh when he heard this, Kyoto was originally the most prosperous city in Japan, but since the Onin Rebellion, the entire city was destroyed, countless people died, although it was later rebuilt, but it was after several wars, the experience of Ishibashi Saburo's family is just a microcosm of the people of Kyoto, and the whole Kyoto does not know how many people in Kyoto have the same experience as Ishibashi Saburo?

Wait until Ishibashi Saburo finally held back his sadness, and then talked about his experience in the past few years, because his home was burned down, his parents and wife were gone, it can be said that he had nothing, but then he was forcibly conscripted into the army of the current general Ashikaga Yoshisai, and the army of the previous general Ashikaga Yoshisumi had a war, but before he went to the battlefield, he did not have any military training at all, let alone how to fight, so in the first war, he lay on the battlefield and pretended to be dead, but he did not expect to escape, Since then, he has escaped from the army and worked as a bandit near Kyoto, and as for the weapons in his hands and the bamboo armor on his body, he found them from the corpses on the battlefield.

After listening to Ishibashi Saburo's tragic life experience, Ashikaga Kazuki sighed again, Ishibashi Saburo's family was originally considered a wealthy family in Kyoto, but the Onin Rebellion and the subsequent war destroyed his family, so it can be seen that the whole of Kyoto may not be prosperous again, even if he can help his cousin rebuild the majesty of the shogunate in the future, I am afraid that he will not be able to restore the vitality of Kyoto in a short time.

"Ishibashi-kun, I also deeply sympathize with what happened to you, but war is always ruthless, all we can do is try our best to survive, and the war will end one day!" Ashikaga Kazuki felt a rare sigh of emotion, and opened his mouth to comfort Ishibashi Saburo.

"Thank you for your understanding!" Ishibashi Saburo couldn't help but be a little moved when he heard Ashikaga Kazuki's comforting words, but when he raised his head and saw the unfinished dinner in front of Ashikaga Kazuki, his eyes couldn't help but show a little longing, but he quickly lowered his head, for fear of provoking Ashikaga Kazuki's dissatisfaction.

Ashikaga Kazuki is also a person with a very keen sense, now he is very satisfied with Ishibashi Saburo's answer, and has decided to let the other party go, when he saw the other party's gaze of food craving, he smiled and stood up, walked to Ishibashi Saburo to untie the rope for him, and then sent his unfinished meal to the other party and said: "Presumably Ishibashi-kun must be hungry, this is my own food, if you don't dislike it, just use some!" ”

"No...... Don't dislike! Ishibashi Saburo heard Ashikaga Kazuki invite him to eat, and immediately raised his head in surprise, and he didn't know what it meant to excuse himself, so he reached out and grabbed the food and stuffed it into his mouth, these meals are very ordinary for Ashikaga Kazuki, but for Ishibashi Saburo it is supreme delicious.

Although Ishibashi Saburo is the leader of the bandits, Kyoto is not as prosperous as before, and there are many fewer pedestrians and caravans coming and going, and some big caravans they don't dare to move, so they usually can't grab anything at all, so they can't eat enough at all, he usually only eats one meal a day, but today from getting up to now, he has not dripped, and now he is almost hungry.

Ashikaga Kazuki watched Ishibashi Saburo gobble up the food, and even licked the plate cleanly, and then asked about the current situation in Kyoto, Ishibashi Saburo was originally from Kyoto, and he was a bandit near Kyoto, so he should have some understanding of the situation in the city.

Sure enough, Saburo Ishibashi put down his plate at this time, and then told him what he knew about the situation in Kyoto. Kyoto is divided into two parts, the north and south, the southern part is called Kamikyo, where the emperor and nobles lived, and the northern part is called Shimokyo, which is the main industrial and commercial area of Kyoto, and is also a place where ordinary people live. Kamikyo and Shimokyo have their own walls, and only one path can connect them, reflecting Japan's strict hierarchy.

Ishibashi Saburo used to live in Shimokyo before, and after becoming a bandit, he occasionally returned to Kyoto to deal with the looted goods, so he was very familiar with Kyoto, but he knew the situation in Shimokyo best, and as for Kamikyo in the aristocratic residential area, he had only heard of some rumors on street corners, and as for the battle between the shogun and the guardian daimyo, he was even less likely to know about it.

Ashikaga Kazuki originally just wanted to inquire about the situation and changes in Kyoto over the years, after all, he hasn't been back for decades, although he had informed his cousin Ashikaga Yoshisai when he came, and he also arranged someone to pick him up in the city, but now there are more situations in Kyoto, after all, there is no harm in it.

After Ishibashi Saburo told all the things he knew about Kyoto, he saw Ashikaga Kazuki showing a thoughtful look, he didn't dare to disturb, knelt there and didn't dare to move, and finally saw Ashikaga Kazuki let out a long breath, looked at Ishibashi Saburo and said: "Very good, tomorrow our caravan will enter Kyoto, you can follow me as a guide for the time being!" (To be continued......)