The turmoil in Kyoto in the tenth year of Eiroku quietly spread all over the world this summer, and in this disaster called the Great Rebellion of Eiroku, the thirteenth general of the Muromachi shogunate, Ashikaga Yoshiteru, was killed in battle, and the twelfth shogun Godaisho Keisuin committed suicide, and hundreds of important ministers of the shogunate, including the deacon of the Muromachi shogunate, collectively killed themselves, and for a time the world shook and the people were angry.

The most angry are the daimyo of Kinai, such as Hatakeyama Takamasa who lived in Kii, Takeda Yoshitomi of Wakasa, Asakura Yoshikei of Echizen and other pro-shogunate samurai have expressed fierce attitudes, especially the Rokkaku Chengzhen, who claims to be the protector of the general, is very dissatisfied, but it is a pity that this monarch experienced the turmoil of Kannonji Temple, and was forced to sign the "Hexagonal Style" by the retainers of the spectrum, and the decline of the family business seems to be a foregone conclusion, so this monarch can only be fierce in his mouth for a while, but he does not dare to take the lead in taking the lead in capturing Kyoto.

The daimyo of the samurai in various places expressed their dissatisfaction and concern about the sudden collapse of the shogunate, especially the attitude of Motosho Motomori of the Western Kingdom, Otomo Yoshijin of Kyushu, and Yoshihisa Shimazu, all of whom were loyal and good generals of the shogunate.

However, these foreign daimyo stood on the castle tower at most, and scolded a few words in the direction of Kyoto, the world is not fair, and the people are not ancient, and the matter of Kyoto is still too far away for the lords of distant countries, and it is just routine to express their opinions, and they are more concerned about what the shogunate should do next.

With the death of Ashikaga Yoshiteru, various versions of rumors spread to the world about how Ashikaga Yoshiteru died. There are different opinions about what happened in the Nijo Imperial Palace. In general, several schools of thought revolve around the second shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki. Nine out of ten versions say that it was his presence that killed Ashikaga Yoshiteru.

The most direct conspiracy theory is that Ashikaga Yoshiaki trapped Ashikaga Yoshiaki at all costs to kill his brother and mother for the position of general, and there are a lot of people who hold this argument among the people to walk around, but in general, there are very few samurai and literate people who believe in this statement, and they think that Ashikaga Yoshiaki lacks the motive to kill his brother and mother, and at least he can follow the method of exile of the general in the Meiwa coup, which is safe and has no reputational risk, which is many times better than rashly killing his brother.

Another theory is that Ashikaga Yoshiaki was a puppet. It was the Miyoshi family who supported Yoshiaki Yoshiaki and besieged the Nijo Imperial Palace to kill Ashikaga Yoshiteru and the shogunate Manmen, and this statement was supported by a considerable number of samurai, and during the Kyoto turmoil that lasted throughout the summer, the Miyoshi family's domineering behavior in Kyoto was published by samurai all over the world, further proving the reliability of this statement.

There are many branches derived from these two mainstream theories, such as whether Ashikaga Yoshiaki was forced to cooperate or actively cooperated, whether the Miyoshi family wanted to kill the shogun or just wanted to exile the shogun but it was self-defeating, and it was not seen with their own eyes that it was ultimately false, and most samurai were skeptical and wait-and-see about the various theories coming out of Kyoto.

Their hesitation did not last long. In the last days of late summer, Ashikaga Yoshiaki went to Xiangkokuji Temple to incense and never returned. The accompanying Miyoshi guards also disappeared en masse, once again shaking the government and the opposition in Kyoto, and the Miyoshi trio hurriedly returned to Kyoto City from the front line, searching the entire Kyoto but did not find the shadow of Ashikaga Yoshiaki.

A few days later, Ashikaga Yoshiaki appeared on Omi Province's Yajima Island, where he announced that the Miyoshi family had planned to kill Shikaenin Zhou Hui, kidnap the puppet himself, and besiege the Nijo Imperial Palace in the name of lawsuits, and wait for an opportunity to attack, murder the shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru and the Imperial Palace, and try to rely on the puppet's own opportunity to serve as the ruler.

The big hat fell out and threw his own black pot to the Miyoshi family by the way, and the frightened Miyoshi Yoshitsugu jumped out for the first time to say that he was innocent, and Miyoshi Yasunaga then said that the family governor was indeed innocent, and the power in the Miyoshi family had already been controlled by the Miyoshi Sanren and Matsunaga Hide, and the recent chaos in Kyoto and the war in Yamato were all tricks made by these two families for power.

Combined with the fact that the imperial court had issued a decree to Matsunaga Hide, which was then forcibly taken back by Sekihaku Nijo Harara, the people of the country of Kinai further believed that the Miyoshi family was the culprit who killed the shogun.

Ashikaga Yoshiaki spent a few days at the Yajima Imperial Palace, refused Rokkaku Seikyoshi's invitation and continued north to Kotani Castle, where he met with Asai Nagamasa, as well as Asakura Yoshikei and Takeda Yoshitori, who had infiltrated Asai County in disguise.

"His Royal Highness Mingjian, I, the samurai of Kinai, have loyalty and serve as the imperial priest of the shogunate on behalf of them, but I don't want to be bullied and oppressed by Sakamoto's villains many times, and invade the family for no reason to burn the land occupied by the Sekisho, which is very hateful!" Asakura Yoshikage took a breath and said, "Please allow His Highness to take revenge on this Sakamoto villain." ”

Asakura Yoshijing has had a very bad time over the years, the death of his beloved concubine is a thing, and the blow of the death of two young sons one after another in recent years is another thing, and he has been addicted to wine-colored bags all year round, and his puffy expression is ugly, and he looks more than a decade older than a few years ago.

Asai Nagamasa was very sympathetic to his plight, and agreed: "Sakamoto's 20 years of rampant and domineering in Omi, we can't hold up our heads for oppression, and when the ancestor Gongfang Light Source Institute (Ashikaga Yoshiteru) was alive, he was very conniving at that person's behavior. ”

Ashikaga Yoshiaki said viciously: "It's Ashikaga Yoshiaki again!" It's really like a shadow hanging over Yu's head, this person is not relieved! ”

The three of them were overjoyed when they heard this, the general and their pace were the same, which meant that there was a lot to be done in the arms of the general, and it seemed that it was still very worthwhile to gamble, and Asai Nagamasa immediately said: "Your Majesty will break the alliance with the Miyoshi family when you go back, and you will also break off the relationship with the daughter of Miyoshi Changqing, and the two boys born to Mrs. Miyoshi will be abolished, and please ask His Royal Highness to be the master of a marriage for his subordinates, in order to show the loyalty of his subordinates." ”

Asakura Yoshikage clenched his fists and said firmly: "The marriage between His Majesty and the Miyoshi family has been broken. There is nothing to fear from breaking the alliance! ”

Takeda Yoshitomi was overjoyed and said: "Your Majesty resolutely supports His Royal Highness Gongfang's enthronement to expel the Miyoshi family. By the way, clean up the wavering Tango Isshiki's Isshiki Yoshiki. This person did not hesitate to let Maizuru Port out in order to curry favor with the Kanto Princess, and not beating this person is not enough to deter the people who are swaying left and right! ”

"Daisuke Isshikibu ? Ashikaga Yoshiaki hesitated: "The Isshiki clan, one of the four positions, is also a member of Yu's family, and it seems that it is ......"

"Your Highness! If you want to do great things, you can't be merciful! If this is the case, then the Kanto Gongfang is a branch of His Royal Highness, so should he also be allowed to run rampant in the country. Asakura Yoshikage's hatred for Ashikaga Yoshitoki is obvious, and many of the stories that were hidden behind it over the years have gradually been revealed, and when I look back, I realize that I have been put aside. When he mentioned Ashikaga Yoshi, he hated it more and more, but it was a pity that he couldn't fight because he was not strong, so he swallowed his anger.

The three daimyo were induced by ill intentions, and in a few words brought the topic to the topic of dealing with Ashikaga Yoshiaki, even if Ashikaga Yoshiaki prides himself on being smart, he can't resist the persuasion of these old fritters after all, and soon promised a lot of promises that he has and does not, and if he has cronies and shoguns around him, he will definitely take the opportunity to interfere, but unfortunately there is no such person around him.

There were several remnants of the shogunate's public service, and they all looked forward to Akechi Mitsuhide, and at this time Akechi Mitsuhide was sitting on the left hand side of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, and in the past, only the steward could sit in an important position, but Akechi Mitsuhide sat on it. He was not overjoyed by Ashikaga Yoshiaki's trust, but was very dissatisfied with the three ill-intentioned daimyos.

Akechi Mitsuhide reminded: "The three highnesses are reasonable. However, whether or not the motion to deal with the Kanto Princes can be postponed for the time being, and the most urgent thing for His Highness to do at present is to regain the lost power of Kyoto, re-establish the Nijo Imperial Palace, and restore the shogunate, which is the main theme, and nothing else matters. ”

The three daimyo glanced at each other, and they all saw from each other's eyes that the enthusiasm was fading, and when it came to the post-war distribution of spoils, they were all very positive, and they were not active in charging and dying before the battle, they thought that they were not cowards without eggs, but how could the three good families be such an easy character to deal with.

On the small body of these three families with thin arms and legs, to resist the pressure of the three good families, the Asakura family is full of 20,000 troops, and 15,000 people are out of the battle, and 10,000 conservative points are a problem, and the Asai family can only take out seven or eight thousand people, and the Wakasa Takeda family is even more useless, and the three thousand soldiers in the sky are still based on the relationship between the general's in-laws.

But what kind of big is the Miyoshi family, the Kyoko Temple battle shot 60,000 troops, at that time almost scared the lively Takeda Yoshito, if this thick arm and thick leg punch hit his face, it is estimated that half of his cheek will be broken, at that time he also sighed that Hatakeyama Takamasa is a generation of strange people, on the basis of the civil strife in Hanoi all day long, he still pulled up 40,000 troops to fight against the Miyoshi army, if it weren't for the cloudy rain and the iron cannon was useless, maybe who could win in the end.

Takeda Yoshitomi thinks that Kinai can hold down the fat beating of the Miyoshi family, probably only about the Toshikaga Ashikaga Yoshitoki, and the classic battle of the Luozhong Battle led by Nakajo Tokihide Commander is still fought all the way, and it is probably difficult to achieve a draw by fighting more with less.

The second is the Hatakeyama Takamasa who nests in Kii, this Jun has a strong command level and a hand, and he has been fighting for more than ten years, and he is definitely the spiritual idol of the Kinai samurai, and others such as Hatano Hideji are still a little tender, and Naito Sokatsu also needs Akai Naomasa's assistance to gain a firm foothold.

The three of them are reluctant to take the lead, but someone has to take over the conversation, otherwise it will be a trivial matter to dial the face of Akechi Mitsuhide, Ashikaga Yoshiaki looked like "I'm looking forward to it", and if he didn't give an explanation, he probably couldn't get through today's meeting, Asakura Yoshikei put on a look that I was missing my wife, don't disturb.

Asai Nagamasa lowered his head in contemplation with a solemn expression, as if he was thinking about where his future wife and future children were, and Takeda Yoshinori was also thinking about whether it was better to eat pickled radish tonight, or to taste the tempura brought by the Nanban missionaries, but it was a pity that Ashikaga Yoshiaki did not give face and called his name, and as a righteous brother, he had to take it.

Takeda Yoshitomi reluctantly said, "Yes, yes! To return to Kyoto, to rebuild the shogunate! This is the most important thing at the moment, His Royal Highness the public side ascended the throne to proclaim, so you can justifiably crusade against that person, so you should think of a way as soon as possible! The Tango Isshiki clan is too arrogant, and it won't work if you don't sanction it......"

Ashikaga Yoshiaki shook his head in disappointment, he could also see that these three were not reliable. At least it didn't look like he was sincerely serving the shogunate and being loyal to him as a general. Before the matter was discussed, a whole bunch of demands were put forward in the hope of being met. Once it came to Shangluo's serious topic, he began to push around and talk about other things, either pretending to be stupid or perfunctory, and his attitude made him feel annoyed and angry.

At this moment, if it weren't for the fact that he still had the three thousand elites of Wise Mitsuhide, and the "Treasure of Cizhao Temple" that Wise Mitsuhide said as a basis, I am afraid that he would not have much confidence to be cold to these three families, but at this time it is different, he has a way to rely on and retreat, if these three are not reliable, he can go to Hatakeyama Takamasa. No matter how bad it is, there is still the spare tire of Hexagonal Yixian, so there is no need to look at the faces of these three families.

Just when Ashikaga Yoshiaki was about to shake his face in anger, Akechi Mitsuhide suddenly coughed and preemptively said: "His Royal Highness has come from afar, and his body and mind are already exhausted, so I will come here today, and I will discuss the affairs of Shangluo another day?" ”

The three of them looked at each other and got up to leave, Akechi Mitsuhide got up to send the three away, and when he turned back, he saw that Ashikaga Yoshiaki was still sulking with a gloomy face, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly and said worriedly: "His Royal Highness must have seen the treacherous nature of the Daimyo of Kinai!" Back then, the Light Source Courtyard also suffered a similar process, calling on the world to crusade against the three buildings, but there was little response. Every year, only a few daimyo come to donate money, and if His Royal Highness can't find supporters as soon as possible. Next year's New Year's Festival will probably be bleak! ”

Ashikaga Yoshiaki looked at Akechi Mitsuhide and said suspiciously, "How did Hinata Mamoru know about the old things twenty years ago? ”

"So careful?" Akechi Mitsuhide remained unmoved on the surface, and replied unhurriedly: "Although his subordinates have not been attached to the shogunate for a short time, he has served on the left and right of the light source hall as a member of the Shin Dynasty, and he has also learned some old things for many years. ”

Ashikaga Yoshiaki suddenly realized, smiled embarrassedly, and said: "It turns out that my brother also suffered a similar thing, it seems that Yu was still wrong to blame my brother, and the days when my father passed away must have been very sad, that Ashikaga Yoshitoki did have two brushes!" ”

"His Royal Highness the Kanto Princesses was a great man in the world, and he also strongly supported the shogunate, and it was not until the conflict a few years ago that he gradually reduced his contacts."

Ashikaga Yoshiaki snorted lightly: "Is it because my brother didn't give him the two?" A Kanto prince wants to do so much, if he doesn't have a ghost in his heart, why should he care about the difference between this step, in the final analysis, Ashikaga Yoshishi has long been opposed. ”

After chatting for a while, Ashikaga Yoshiaki suddenly asked him about the scene of his envoy to Edo, and Akechi Mitsuhide replied with a smile and said frankly: "At the beginning, His Royal Highness Gongfang rewarded his ministers with swords and large armored horses, and said that there were few samurai in Kinai who were as talented as his ministers, and he tried his best to invite his ministers to serve in Edo, but in the end his ministers refused on the grounds that he had fulfilled his long-cherished wish to serve His Royal Highness the Shogun. ”

Ashikaga Yoshiaki said quite understandingly: "Ashikaga Yoshitoki has a good eye, and an elegant person like Hinata Mamoru who is proficient in the waka tea ceremony, any samurai must treat each other with all his heart when he sees it!" ”

A contempt flashed in Wise Mitsuhide's eyes, and he said in his heart: "At the beginning, His Royal Highness valued himself not for the side details such as the waka tea ceremony, but for the true ability of my Mitsuhide, a civil and military all-rounder, military and political strategy, no matter how good the moral cultivation is, after all, he can't immediately govern the army and the people, Ashikaga Yoshiaki can't even see this, it's really disappointing." ”

Ashikaga Yoshiaki is unaware of this, and still thinks that Akechi Mitsuhide is a rare loyal and good general, and even better is that he can lead troops to fight and drink tea with him, discuss the wind and moon, but he is a very elegant and virtuous person, and he is very relieved to do things properly and meticulously, and he feels that it is wonderful to have such an important minister by his side, and he does not have to worry about anything.

Wise Mitsuhide bowed down and said: "His Royal Highness Mingjian, His Majesty thinks that such a time-consuming day is not a way after all, we must find the support of a loyal and excellent martial artist as soon as possible, and open the passage to Jinai for His Royal Highness as soon as possible. ”

"That's right! That's right! I can't go on like this, this Asakura, Asai, and my righteous brother are all treacherous people, greedy and unbridled, and they are not loyal and brave generals. If he had read the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" written in the early Ming Dynasty, he might be able to understand the meaning of "doing great things and sparing his life, seeing small profits and dying".

Akechi Mitsuhide hadn't read the novels of the Ming Dynasty, but it didn't prevent him from understanding this truth, and said quite understandingly: "These three highnesses have their own concerns, and the fault is that the short-sighted pattern is too low, and they can't become famous ministers and good generals like Hosokawa Yoriyuki and Imagawa Rytoshi, and his majesty thinks that His Royal Highness might as well look into the distance, and there are better options outside of Kinai." ”

"Choice? What are the alternatives? Ashikaga Yoshiaki pondered for a while and said, "How is the Harima Akamatsu clan?" ”

Akechi Mitsuhide shook his head and said: "Since the fall of the Cargill Rebellion, the Akamatsu clan has been lucky enough to re-establish the family but it can't stop the great decline of fame, in recent years, such as the Bizen Urakami clan and the like, the lords of the countrymen in various places have set up their own doors, that is, Harima Province is also controlled by the two sects of the Akamatsu clan, and it is difficult to protect itself, so how can they protect the battle of His Royal Highness Shangluo?" ”

"How about the Hanoi High House?"

Wise Mitsuhide frowned, and said lightly: "The high house hall is the heroic of Kinachi, why have you fought against the Miyoshi family by yourself for many years, and the ambition pattern has been suppressed by the Miyoshi family and it is difficult to do more, if His Royal Highness is willing to favor a corner of Kishu, you might as well try it." ”

"How about the Nishikoku Mori Stable Hall, or the Kyushu Otomo Kingo Hall?"

"I'm afraid it's too far to get into Kyoto for a while, so if His Royal Highness has enough patience, you might as well try it."

Now Ashikaga Yoshiaki is unhappy again, this can't do that or that, is it possible to let him nest in Kotani City for the rest of his life, Akechi Mitsuhide said with a smile: "Your Royal Highness don't worry!" In fact, not far from Kinai, there is another extraordinary, ambitious heroic man who can drive His Royal Highness the Gongfang, it is not difficult to have this king, it is not difficult to stabilize Kyoto, and it is easy to suppress the three highnesses in Kotani Castle. ”

Ashikaga Yoshiaki hesitated, "Could it be...... Takeda Daizen Doctor Shingen? ”

"No, the person your majesty is talking about is a great name who sits in the land of three states, Oda Kamisuke Nobunaga." Akechi Mitsuhide didn't know that at this time, his eyes were like a hungry wolf staring at his prey, and his smile was a little treacherous and cunning.

……

This is the sixth year since the unification of the Kanto region, and there have been only two years of severe wind and rain in six years, and this year is the second major storm in these six years, and the storm that ravaged most of Japan finally stopped at the end of summer, and the powerful storm lost its violent power and gradually dissipated into a gentle autumn rain.

It was not until late September that a preliminary figure was drawn up, and the damage was much smaller than expected, thanks to the continuous construction and strengthening of the embankments over the past few years, the development of a tributary of the Shinhori River, and the improvement of the embankment protection mechanism.

In order to ensure that the Edo River is drained smoothly and does not affect the direct safety of Edo Castle when the river floods, the Kanto Shogunate ordered the excavation of several Shinbori rivers, covering almost all the water systems downstream of the Tone River, with a total length of tens of kilometers.

The first phase of the Shin-Hori River, including the diversion of the Edogawa River, was officially put into operation last fall, and the treatment of the entire Tonegawa, Arakawa, and Tama rivers was not a huge project that could be completed in 10 or 8 years, but required several generations and a century of hard work to gradually improve.

It has been half a month since he returned from Tsuruoka Hachimangu Palace, during which Ashikaga Yoshitoki almost stayed at home, in addition to dealing with government affairs, he was busy writing his memoirs, writing a short memoir of his experience in the shogunate in Kyoto for several years, in order to commemorate the last glory of the Muromachi shogunate and to miss the past, by the way, to sort out the short history of working with Ashikaga Yoshiharu and Ashikaga Yoshiteru.

Ashikaga Yoshitoki hung his wrist on the bookcase, and wrote hundreds of words in a short time, a thick stack of paper calmly lay in the corner of the bookcase, it seems that he has written a lot of manuscripts these days, and in the process of writing his memoirs is also a summary of his life, looking back on the past, some are thought-provoking, some are slight, and it seems that he enjoys the process of this memory.

"Father, can the child come in?"

Ashikaga Yoshitoki's handwriting did not stop, and he wrote more than 100 words in one breath before putting down the brush and whispering: "Come in!" (To be continued......)