"Rao...... Spare your life, the villain is just a hired guide, and he doesn't know about it at all! Feeling the sharp knife on his neck, Saburo Ishibashi immediately trembled with fright and stammered for mercy, even at this time he didn't even see the person who attacked him.

"Let him go, here's the guide I've hired!" Just when Ishibashi Saburo's whole body trembled with fear, he suddenly heard a familiar voice say, and then he dared to open his eyes, only to find that a man in black next to him was holding a knife on his neck, because it was too dark, so he couldn't see the other party's appearance, but by the hazy moon, he found that there were many other people in black in the courtyard, and not far in front of him, the lord of the caravan was also standing in the courtyard, and it was he who opened his mouth just now to let the man in black let him go.

Hearing Ashikaga Kazuki's order, the man in black immediately put away his knife and released Ishibashi Saburo. However, Ishibashi Saburo looked at these murderous black-clothed people in the courtyard, but he was also trembling with fright, and saw him trembling quickly and walked up to Ashikaga Kazuki and said, "How ...... Thank you for saving the villain's life! ”

Ashikaga Kazuki looked Ishibashi Saburo up and down a few times, and immediately opened his mouth and ordered: "You go back to your room to rest, no matter what sound you hear outside, don't come out, otherwise I won't be able to save you if there is such a situation again!" ”

"Yes...... Be! The villain obeys! Hearing that Ashikaga Kazuki asked him to go back to his room, he immediately asked Saburo Ishibashi to be pardoned, and immediately stumbled back to his room, getting into the quilt and never daring to come out again.

However, after Ashikaga Kazuki watched Ishibashi Saburo run into the room, his face suddenly changed, and he called a man in black to give a few orders. The other party immediately came to Saburo Ishibashi's door to monitor. It's not that Ashikaga Kazuki suspects Saburo Ishibashi. It's because Ashikaga Yoshisai is coming tonight, and these men in black are Ashikaga Yoshisai's guards, and he must ensure that there will be no problems with the people he brings.

Next, Ashikaga Kazuki himself walked around the courtyard, until he found that there was nothing abnormal, and then he came to the living room, and the Hirabe Kurashita, who was in charge of guarding the yard, was also here, but at this time, the wooden board in the corner of the living room was opened, revealing the passage below. And you can still see a faint light in the passage, and the black-clad guards in the courtyard came in through this passage.

Although the power of the Ashikaga shogunate was overturned by Hosokawa Takakuni and others, the Ashikaga clan has been a general for hundreds of years after all, and naturally has many unknown secrets, such as the secret in front of Ashikaga Kazuki, which is from the Ashikaga Shogun's Mansion in Uekyo to Shimokyo here, which was originally used by the general to escape at a critical moment, but now it is used by Ashikaga Yoshisai to communicate with the outside world.

Ashikaga Kazuki waited in the living room for a short time when he heard footsteps in the passage, followed by several black-clothed guards walking out very vigilantly. When he saw a flat warehouse sitting in the living room, he dodged and made way of the passage. At the end, I saw a middle-aged man who was the same age as Ashikaga Kazuki and looked a little similar, and walked out of it.

Seeing this middle-aged man walking out slowly, Ashikaga Kazuki, who was sitting there, stood up suddenly, and exclaimed with excitement on his face: "Big brother! ”

It was the current shogun Ashikaga Yoshisai who came out of the passage, and when he heard the familiar and unfamiliar title of "big brother", he couldn't help but be shocked, and looked up to see Ashikaga Kazuki with excitement on his face, and he was also excited to walk a few steps quickly, holding each other's arms with both hands and saying: "Yoshio, I didn't expect that in my lifetime, our brothers would still have a time to meet!" ”

I have said before that Ashikaga Kazuki's real name is Ashikaga Yoshio, but since he went overseas, even he himself has almost forgotten his real name, and now he hears his cousin still call his name as before, which makes Ashikaga Kazuki can't help but burst into tears of excitement.

When the affectionate cousins met, they naturally couldn't help but sigh, Ashikaga Yoshisai sighed that time passed so fast, and asked Ashikaga Kazuki if it was safe along the way, etc., and Ashikaga Kazuki also told what he had seen and heard along the way, and when Ashikaga Yoshisai heard the desolate scene outside Kyoto, he couldn't help but sigh, and this was not the consequence he wanted to see.

After Ashikaga Yoshisai and Ashikaga Kazuki chatted for a while, because it was not easy for Ashikaga Yoshisai to come out, so they quickly talked about business, only to see Ashikaga Yoshisai let his side and the guards and the Ministry of Peace retreat, and then said to Ashikaga Kazuki with a serious face: "Yoshio, is what you said in your letter true, do you really have a way to let our envoy meet the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty?" ”

Ashikaga Yoshisai has long known the meaning of Ashikaga Kazuki from the letters, but this matter is very important, so he wants to listen to Ashikaga Kazuki say it in person, after all, for him, Daming is already the only object he can rely on now.

"Don't worry, big brother, if this matter is not sure, I won't come to see you in person, the origin of the person who can help us meet the Great Tomorrow is very mysterious, but I can be sure that he must have an extremely close connection with the Great Tomorrow!" Ashikaga Kazuki said this, and told everything he knew about Zhouzhong.

I saw that Ashikaga Yoshisai also listened very seriously, and waited until Ashikaga Kazuki finished speaking, then nodded thoughtfully and said: "I see, that Zhou Zhong is young, and he can run a huge chamber of commerce, and the prospective father-in-law committed a crime, and he was not only exonerated after the most reinstatement, but also reinstated as an official, and what is even more surprising is that he actually got the marriage of the Great Tomorrow, and there is also a brocade guard by his side, if such a person says that it has nothing to do with the Great Tomorrow, I'm afraid no one will believe it!" ”

"The eldest brother analyzed well, I thought the same way, and when I was willing to pay a huge price to ask him for help, he didn't give me an answer for a long time, I was about to despair, but I didn't expect him to finally agree after the worst, so it can be seen that he must have thought it through, otherwise he wouldn't have considered it for so long." Ashikaga Kazuki also opened his mouth at this time, he fully believed that Zhou Chong had the ability to take their envoy to see the Great Tomorrow, but he didn't know the way, and even Zhou Chong himself didn't understand why Emperor Zhengde valued him so much?

However, at this time, Ashikaga Yoshisai's face showed hesitation, only to see him think about it and say: "Yoshio, you have been working hard outside for many years, and it is not easy to have a small foundation in Shuangyu Port in Daming, but now because of family affairs, you have to give up your foundation in Daming, and I can't bear it for my brother!" ”

Hearing that the eldest brother was worried about this, Ashikaga Kazuki smiled and said: "The eldest brother doesn't have to worry about me, in fact, since Zhou Zhong arrived at Shuangyu Port, I found that he was very repulsive to us outsiders, in just one year, many foreign chambers of commerce were squeezed out by him, although my chamber of commerce can still compete with him for the time being, but Zhou Zhong is a very powerful character, I am not sure that I can always persist in Shuangyu Port, so this time I took the initiative to withdraw in exchange for this opportunity, but also want to withdraw from Shuangyu Port decently, In addition, he also promised me to be their distributor in Japan, although the consignment goods are not as profitable as smuggling, but they are much safer and more stable, and I can better help my brother when I stay in Japan in the future! ”

Although Ashikaga Kazuki seemed very relaxed when he said the above words, Ashikaga Yoshisai knew that his cousin, who wanted to help him restore the power of the shogunate, must have paid a lot for it, and he was also moved at the moment, holding each other tightly with both hands and taking a long breath, and at the same time strengthening his determination to regain the power of the shogunate.

Since Ashikaga Kazuki said so, Ashikaga Yoshisai is not good to refuse again, so I saw him ponder for a moment, and finally stood up and said: "Okay, since Yoshio has paid so much for this matter, then I can't waste this opportunity in vain, I have already arranged the envoy who will go to Beijing with you this time, and I have also prepared a valuable gift to pay tribute to the Great Tomorrow, I hope that this time I can persuade the Great Tomorrow to support us!" ”

In fact, it can be found from the above passage of Ashikaga Yoshisai that Ashikaga Yoshisai has long prepared a messenger and gifts, so it can be seen that he has long been prepared to make Ashikaga Kazuki pay the price in exchange for the opportunity for his envoy to meet the great emperor. In fact, Ashikaga Kazuki also saw this very clearly, but he thought that his cousin's approach was in line with his status as a shogun, after all, it was impossible for a person who only valued feelings to take back power from Hosokawa Takakuni and others.

Next, Ashikaga Yoshisai and Ashikaga Kazuki discussed the specific matters of this entry into Beijing, in terms of personnel arrangement, Ashikaga Yoshisai arranged a messenger, this envoy was born in a famous family, and the family also has a huge influence on Kyoto, and their family has also formed a private alliance with Ashikaga Yoshisai, and is Ashikaga Yoshisai's most powerful ally against Hosokawa Takakuni and Ouchi Yoshiko.

In addition to the main envoy, Ashikaga Yoshisai also arranged two deputy envoys, one of which was his confidant, and the other deputy envoy was given the position of Ashikaga Kazuki, after all, he was the initiator of this matter, and he was deeply trusted by Ashikaga Yoshisai, and most importantly, Ashikaga Kazuki, the deputy envoy, also had the power to monitor the envoy, and if necessary, he could even abolish the envoy, after all, for the current Japan, there is no ally that can be completely trusted, the reason why Ashikaga Yoshisai sent someone from that family as the envoy, In addition to expressing one's trust to the other party, it also means to examine whether the other party is sincere in forming an alliance.

Ashikaga Kazuki had no objection to Ashikaga Yoshisai's arrangement, and at this time Ashikaga Yoshisai had come out for a long time, and he immediately got up and went home, while Ashikaga Kazuki still stayed in this courtyard and waited.

Two days later, the envoy and the gift were finally arranged by Ashikaga Yoshisai outside the castle, so Ashikaga Kazuki quietly left Kyoto with his people, and after joining the envoy's procession, the two men and horses dressed up as a large caravan and left Japan through Kawachi and Kii. (To be continued......)