In a hurry, Oda Nobunaga went out overnight.

It is said that only six horsemen accompanied him out of the city at first. However, Shibata Katsuie, who had already been waiting in Cheongju Castle, immediately responded and immediately summoned soldiers and horses to follow.

Everyone cheered up and followed Nobunaga from Kiyoshu Castle to the south, and it was not until they approached Atsuta Jingu that Nobunaga's speed gradually slowed down.

He stopped his horse and looked back, and found that there were only about 20 horsemen with him, and he couldn't help but be a little stunned.

"There are so few people......"

"My lord! Do you want to wait here for a while, waiting for the follow-up troops? ”

"Hmm...... Just wait here and I'll get some sleep. ”

Oda Nobunaga nodded, rolled out of his horse, and lay down on a thick-looking grass on the side of the road. The samurai on horseback looked at each other, and in any case could not imagine that Nobunaga could walk and stop when he said he would, and that he would be able to sleep peacefully.

But they did their duty, and immediately surrounded Nobunaga, and sent several people to disperse far away as a warning.

The east has revealed the whiteness of the fish's belly, and the dark night is no longer so rich.

After an hour or so, the follow-up troops gradually followed, and the current one was the horse riding team selected by the fierce general Shibata Katsuie.

At this moment, eight hundred people had gathered around Oda Nobunaga.

"What is the lord doing?"

Katsuya eagerly asked Nobunaga about his approach.

"Lord, he...... Sleeping! ”

"How can this be true? I'm going to wake him up. ”

At the time of the war, Katsuya didn't want to waste time, so he rushed in despite the opposition of the guards, and as soon as he saw Nobunaga lying on the grass, Nobunaga had already woken up.

"Oops, hey, Kwon Liu's voice is still so loud, it's even louder than the sound of horses' hooves."

Nobunaga stretched and sat up from the grass.

"Now that the lord is sober, please give a military order!"

"Oh...... How many people have already come? ”

"Eight hundred!"

When he heard the number of eight hundred, Nobunaga's clear eyes flashed with joy, he himself did not expect that the Oda family could gather so many elite soldiers in just one hour.

"I've slept enough, let's go to Atsuta!"

"Nani? Do you want to go to Atsuta Jingu? ”

Katsuya was a little puzzled by Nobunaga's decision, and did not understand why Nobunaga, who had never believed in ghosts and gods, wanted to visit Atsuta Jingu.

…… Because there is no hope, why do you go to worship the great god?

The worries of the Singers were even greater.

Oda Nobunaga was stunned when he heard this, but he immediately laughed:

"That's right, it's to worship God! Kwon Roku, you have to go with me too! Let's go! ”

Everyone shouted in succession, and immediately lined up as a long snake and headed for Atsuta Jingu not far away.

Atsuta Jingu Shrine is not actually a palace.

Originally, it was the place where the sacred sword "Tencong Cloud" was enshrined, but gradually merchants built a yashiki here, and because Atsuta was located at the center of the trade route, it became the second largest merchant city in Owari.

It is not only the shrine dedicated to the sacred sword of the Tencong Cloud, but also the houses of the surrounding merchants, which is the complete "Atsuta Shrine".

At the home of Kato Shunmori, the leader of Atsuta Zashang, several powerful merchants were summoned to participate in a meeting with the envoy of the Imagawa family.

The messenger sent by the Imagawa family, named Ming Guang Yoshimasa, was a tall young monk, and at this moment, Ming Guang Yoshimasa used his magnetic voice full of demagogic power to persuade eloquently:

"You are all heroes for a while, so you can't see the situation in front of you clearly, the Oda clan is already at the end of the road. Yesterday evening, Matsudaira Motoyasu successfully transported grain and grass to Otaka Castle, and the dying counterattack of the Oda clan has also been declared a failure! You can be forgiven for being ignorant for a while, but if you are sent to death with Nobunaga, it is not an exaggeration to fear that the family will be destroyed! ”

As soon as these words came out, the businessmen all looked at each other and exchanged ideas from their eyes.

They all understand that Ming Guangyi is coercing, but the businessmen of the Warring States Period, which one did not become a career after many hardships, and how could ordinary coercion be frightened?

Kato Shunmori coughed lightly, supported his huge head with one hand, and pulled a smile at the corner of his wrinkled mouth:

"What do you want to say, you might as well say it bluntly, we are all in business, how can we understand the overall situation."

Kato's words were in line with Ming Guangyi's intentions, and he immediately said:

"The convenient conditions that the Oda clan has given you, I can also give it! Not only that, but my lord admires the culture of Kyoto, and he has many dealings with merchants from Osaka and Sakai Port, so if you want to expand your trade routes, you can do so under the protection of my lord! ”

- After coercion, it is an inducement.

Ming Guangyi was observing the expressions of the merchants and smiled contentedly.

If this does not impress this group of people, then they are really blind and deserve to die.

"If His Highness Imagawa can protect our trade routes and property, there will be room for negotiation in this matter, but it will ......"

Kato Shunmori opened his mouth slowly,

"It's just that we have been working with the Oda clan for ten years, and it is quite easy to betray us, and the world may think that we and other Atsuta merchants are treacherous. In this way, I am afraid that it will be difficult to do business. ”

Ming Guangyizheng had a stronger smile on his face, but he was cursing this group of greedy businessmen in his heart.

"What if my lord gave you more rights to do things conveniently?"

"The matter...... I'm afraid that we still need to deliberate carefully......"

Suddenly, there was a rush of footsteps outside the door, and a young samurai dressed in a full-footed and caged hand, with a sword at his waist, burst in.

"What else is being discussed? No need to negotiate! ”

Everyone was resentful of the intruder's audacity, but when they saw the man's appearance and appearance, they couldn't help but exclaim:

"Up...... Mr. Kamisuke-sama! ”

Kato Shunmori was also quite surprised by Nobunaga's speed, and immediately bowed forward, and said with a smile:

"Mr. Shang, I came here early in the morning, I don't know what you are doing?"

"It turns out that this is the famous 'Owari Big Fool', what a person is like his name, stupid enough!"

Akihiroshi stood up and looked down at Nobunaga with a height of more than half a head.

Nobunaga didn't scold back, but just looked up and glared at Ming Guangyizheng, who felt a chill and involuntarily took three steps back.

After that, Nobunaga turned his head to look at Kato Shunmori, and suddenly asked:

"Can you give me a blank flag?"

Although the merchants were suspicious, Nobunaga himself came here, but he was afraid that he would be followed by a large number of troops, and for a time he did not dare to slack off on Nobunaga's request, and soon someone brought an apricot-colored cloth over.

"Bring the pen and ink too!"

Nobunaga spread the cloth on the floor and shouted to the merchants.

The merchants were already angry in their hearts, but Kato Shunmori looked expectant and hurriedly ordered people to prepare according to Nobunaga's request.

Suddenly, Nobunaga was holding a large pen on his elbow, dipped in ink, and drew a large circle on the apricot-yellow flag.

"What is he going to do......

The merchants whispered to each other.

Then, in the middle of the large circle, Nobunaga drew a slightly smaller box.

"It is the shape of the copper coin......"

Finally, Nobunaga used his pen like a fly, and wrote the four big characters of "Yongle Tongbao" in the middle of the box and circle.

Everyone could see it and knew that Nobunaga had drawn a Yongle Tongbao on this cloth, but no one knew why.

"Toshiyuki Maeda!"

"Hay!"

"Hang this flag as my new seal!"

"Nani?"

Everyone, including Lizhi, was amazed.

"Take this flag painted with [Yongle Tongbao] as my new horse seal! Go ahead and do it! ”

"Hay!"

Nobunaga's voice was quick and fierce, and Toshiyuki hurriedly responded, holding the chess pieces and trotting out.

At this time, Akihiromasa couldn't help but feel gloomy in his heart, he knew that Oda Nobunaga had done this, and the merchants of Atsuta would definitely continue to work for it, and correspondingly, he would not be able to complete his mission.

"Book Help! Now that the war is about to start, I'll sacrifice this guy's head to the flag, you don't have an opinion! ”

Nobunaga stared at Yoshimasa Akira up and down, and finally stopped his gaze on Yoshimasa's slippery head.

"Hmm......"

Although Kato Shunmori was shocked by Nobunaga's courage, he did not want to make enemies with the Imagawa family, and was thinking about how to protect Akihiro Yoshimasa, but Nobunaga pulled out his sword and slashed at Akihiro Yoshimasa's neck.

"Egg!"

The merchants exclaimed.

Nobunaga let Akihiro's blood spurt under his feet, turned around and strode out of Kato Shunmori's house.

Behind Nobunaga, the aged Kato Shunmori bowed down respectfully and shouted in a trembling voice:

"The Lord is decided!"