An autumn rain and a cold, in the dripping autumn rain, the eleventh year of Eiroku gradually came to an end, at the end of autumn, the temperature plummeted and the cold became stronger, Gifu Castle welcomed a group of guests from Kyoto, the second shogun of the shogunate, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the envoy of the second shogunate, the samurai Akechi Hinata Morimihide from Mino.

At this moment, Gifu Castle was solemn and solemn, and Oda Nobunaga personally hosted a banquet to entertain the shogunate's envoy Akechi Mitsuhide, and the banquet was full of wine and chat, and Oda Nobunaga and Akechi Mitsuhide had a relaxed conversation, talking about the scenery of Kyoto, the missionaries of the Nanban, and many new things overseas, so that Oda Nobunaga's eyes lit up as if he was fascinated.

When the half-drunk and restrained meaning of the wine dissipated, Oda Nobunaga smiled and said, "Akechi Hinata Mamoru is also a samurai from Mino, and he must have had a hard time wandering outside for many years!" When you return to your hometown this time, you must walk around and see more, the changes in Mino over the years are very amazing! ”

"Yes! In the next long time, I heard that the Shangsujie Palace's governance methods are excellent, and I will definitely study it seriously this time! Wise Mitsuhide said with a warm smile: "Since the death of the third hall in the second year of Hongzhi, I have been away from home for more than ten years, but I didn't expect that there would be a chance to return to my hometown in this life!" When I first arrived in Inoguchi, I already felt a strong commercial atmosphere, and it seemed that it was not much worse than the various towns in Kinai. ”

"Haha...... Hinata has won the award.,The Mino country under the rule of the family is indeed a big improvement compared to a few years ago.,But there's still a big gap compared to Kinai.,The first line of the Rakushi music order is not long.,Presumably it will be more prosperous in the future! Oda Nobunaga was very pleased, he liked this kind of samurai the most, especially the samurai who were both civil and military, and Akechi Mitsuhide was involved in both. It's rare to meet such a good samurai. The mood is also naturally much more comfortable.

Niwa Nagahide said, "I heard that the Wise Hinata Moriden is related to the late Daosanden! Let's put it this way. I think I'm also related to Mrs. Nohime, right? ”

Akechi Mitsuhide said embarrassedly: "That's true, my aunt and Mrs. Komi are the main room of the Third Hall of the Dao, and I happen to be the righteous brother of Mrs. Nonghime, although I am called a righteous brother, I haven't seen each other for twenty years, and I have forgotten what Mrs. Nonghime looks like." ”

"In this way, the Hyuga Shouden is not an outsider! My Samurai of Owari and Mino are like a family, and the princes say yes, right? Hahaha......" Shibata Katsuie's loud voice was heard, and it was clear throughout the entire large room, such as Mori Kesei, Beeya Yoryu and other Mino samurai all smiled. Oda Nobunaga was also very happy, and he boasted that Gonroku had advanced.

Since he knew that the two sides still had this level of kinship, the conversation between the two sides was unconsciously getting closer and closer, and Oda Nobunaga asked as if unintentionally: "I heard that when the shogunate was at its peak, there were tens of thousands of tigers under his command, and Hyuga Shouden was added as the public leader of the shogunate, so he must have led many shogunate samurai, right?" ”

Akechi Mitsuhide didn't seem to hear his voice-over, and drank a glass of sake and said proudly: "In the past, there were indeed tens of thousands of troops sitting in the mountain city, but in recent years, the Miyoshi family has raised its head and the shogunate has declined, and the public has reduced its personnel to only more than 3,000 people. ”

Oda Nobunaga nodded. After pondering for a moment, he asked: "Hyuga Shoudian is a famous general in the world, and he has worked tirelessly to save His Royal Highness. Speaking of which, what is the ins and outs of the Great Rebellion of Yonglu? I, the daimyo of the distant country, are ignorant and ignorant, and I ask Hinata to tell him the truth. ”

Wise Mitsuhide's expression moved, and then he said slowly: "The death of the general of Yonglu Da Rebellion is full of mysteries, and there are various opinions that are not fixed, and it is not very clear what is going on in the next place, and suddenly received the news that the Nijo Imperial Palace was besieged by a large army before noon, so he left Cizhao Temple with three thousand troops to rush to the aid of the Nijo Imperial Palace, but he didn't want to bump into the Miyoshi army that rushed out of the Xiangguo Temple halfway, and he didn't dare to do it for fear of breaking the shogunate's major affairs in the Xiangguo Temple, and it happened that the Miyoshi army didn't seem to have the intention of fighting, After an hour of confrontation, he led his army to retreat south. ”

"Why did the Miyoshi family send troops to besiege the Nijo Imperial Palace?"

"As far as I know, at that time, the Miyoshi family was holding His Royal Highness the Gongfang in his hand, and the Light Source Courtyard Hall must be very helpless!" Wise Guangxiu's eyes moved, and he said secretly: "How can it be summed up by the word helplessness...... It should be despair! ”

Oda Nobunaga knew very well that the highness of the prince that Akechi Mitsuhide was referring to was Ashikaga Yoshiaki, and his brows furrowed tightly and he stroked his beard and said, "I see! Sure enough, it was a hijacking of His Royal Highness in an attempt to support it, but then the light source temple would rather die than give in and was killed in the Nijo Imperial Palace? The Miyoshi family is really bold, and they regard the majesty of my martial arts family as if they were nothing, and the heroes of Jinai can tolerate this fang to be rampant and domineering, it is simply unreasonable! ”

Akechi Mitsuhide didn't believe the righteous and awe-inspiring set in his mouth at all, and secretly laughed: "I don't know how you will feel when you hear Oda Nobunaga's words, a rebellious minister and thief who guards the retainers of the Dai family, and the villain who exiled the lord can also say such high-sounding words, which is really ridiculous in the world." ”

The selfish thoughts in his heart were unspeakable, and the smile on his face remained unchanged and continued: "I then led the army into Kyoto, defeated the Miyoshi army and was surrounded by the Miyoshi army in all directions, and only had time to rescue the palace of the Imperial Terrace and hurriedly retreated. ”

Oda Nobunaga stared sideways at Akechi Mitsuhide's expression and asked strangely: "It's strange that the family hasn't heard that the Godai Hall appeared at the funeral of the Light Source Temple, I thought that the Godai Hall was seized by the Miyoshi family, but it turned out that it was saved by the Hyuga Moriden, I don't know if the Godai Hall is now in Kotani Castle, why haven't I heard that the Godai Hall appeared at the funeral in Kyoto, could it be that something happened to the Godai Temple?" ”

Akechi Mitsuhide smiled bitterly and sighed: "It's not that I don't want to attend the funeral, it's really that the Kyoto controlled by the Miyoshi family is too dangerous, and I rescued the Imperial Observatory Palace overnight, and then a storm was able to smoothly lead the army out of Kyoto. ”

"So where is the person in the Imperial Hall now?"

"This subordinate doesn't know......"

Oda Nobunaga shook his head secretly, and said in his heart that you can also send such an important person to Sakamoto, it's not that you can't find a better reason because your head is dizzy. But it's hard to think about it the other way around. More than 3,000 people escorted a woman to abscond overnight. With two children and a few young maids, this combination must be equipped with a spacious and comfortable carriage, as well as all kinds of extravagant daily necessities, which are not enough for Akechi Mitsuhide, a general who leads troops to fight.

Akechi Mitsuhide said with a look of shame: "It's not appropriate to send the Imperial Hall anywhere, and the situation at that time can't afford to think about it a lot, after thinking about it, I still sent His Royal Highness the Imperial Observatory to Sakamoto nearby for placement, but now that I think about it, I really did something wrong, and it may be a better choice to send the Imperial Observatory to Gifu Castle." ”

"What Hinata said is true. If it is sent to Gifu Castle, the family will definitely be treated as a guest, but it is a pity that it will be sent to Sakamoto. Oda Nobunaga sighed for a moment, and then said, "Don't mention those, let's talk about the mission of the Hyuga Shouden here?" I heard that His Royal Highness the Duke lives in Koya Castle, but I don't know what the situation of His Royal Highness the Duke is? ”

When it comes to the main topic, you can't be so unruly, Niwa Nagahide waved his hand to rebuke Mairaku, and the pleasant atmosphere of drinking and talking at the banquet immediately changed its taste, and Akechi Mitsuhide coughed and said seriously: "It's not good!" His Royal Highness summoned the Rokkaku Kyoshoden, the Asai Bizen Mori Hall, the Asakura Jingo Hall, and the Takeda Jibu Hall. I was not very satisfied with the performance of these highnesses, and I heard that there was a heroic figure in Tokaido. So he sent him to Gifu Castle, hoping that Kamisuke-den would do his part for His Royal Highness and the shogunate. ”

Niwa Nagahide said: "In this way, it is indeed very difficult for His Royal Highness Gongfang to get out of the hands of the Miyoshi family, and several Daimyo of Kinai may be due to their lack of strength, and it is understandable that they have more than enough strength but not enough strength. ”

"I Hengxing thought that they didn't have the strength to do it, they must be unwilling to provoke the three good families! Sure enough, His Royal Highness wants me to come to the Oda family! Ikeda Hengxing smiled, and the samurai present showed a look of deep approval, Shangluo is the ultimate dream of every samurai, even if they themselves don't know what the meaning of Shangluo is, but it does not affect their mentality of going to Kyoto to meet the world and promote the martial arts of the country samurai.

Oda Nobunaga has a heart buried in an ambition that is not willing to be lonely, since the pacification of Ise Province, he has lost his way for a while, and the peaceful life of these years is something he can't tolerate, but fortunately, the outbreak of the Eiroku Great Rebellion at this moment gave him a huge opportunity, Oda Nobunaga almost couldn't help jumping up and packing up his bags to go to Luo to crusade against the Miyoshi rebels.

Oda Nobunaga stood up and shouted, "Gentlemen! The Miyoshi family wreaked havoc on the Kinai for the tiger and caused the tragedy of the destruction of the Nijo Imperial Palace, so the commotion in Kyoto caused an uproar all over the world, and His Royal Highness was held hostage by the villains. I, Nobunaga, would like to serve the shogunate and His Royal Highness the Shogunate! Ladies and gentlemen, lend me your strength! ”

The ministers bowed their heads and their morale was high, and Wise Mitsuhide nodded in admiration with a smile, but he didn't want Takigawa Ichiyi to bow down, and said worriedly: "But Okazaki Castle is surrounded by the Takeda Army, what should I do, the general of the Takeda family is the Takeda Stable Palace, and the Mikawa Shouden has a few urgent letters asking for help urging reinforcements, should we solve the end of the Mikawa direction first and then go to Luo." ”

Oda Nobunaga suddenly stood up and shouted, "Hikoemon! ”

Takigawa Yiyi hurriedly leaned over and said, "The minister is here!" ”

Oda Nobunaga summoned the pen, took the pen, ink, paper, and inkstone to write down more than 100 words, signed his exclusive world cloth seal, stuffed it into a roll and threw it to him with fire paint, and said: "You bring a handwritten letter from your own family, go to the Takeda military camp outside Okazaki City to meet the Takeda stable, no matter what method you use, you must persuade the Takeda family to call out the army and truce, and this matter will be entrusted to you!" ”

Takigawa Yiyi's face turned pale, and he said in a low voice: "Your Majesty respectfully obeys the order. ”

Kinoshita Hideyoshi suddenly came out of the corner and said, "Your Majesty is willing to go with Takigawa Palace, and Your Majesty is sure to persuade the Takeda family to withdraw their troops." ”

"Oh? It turned out to be you, a bald rat......" Oda Nobunaga pondered for a moment, looked at him deeply and said, "Go if you want!" Remember, this operation can only succeed and not fail. ”

Wise Mitsuhide stroked his palms and sighed: "The Shangsuke Palace is equipped with powerful warriors like carp crossing the river, and I don't know how many mortals, so I admire it!" ”

"Hinata Shouden praises it." Oda Nobunaga shook his head and looked at the southeast, and said proudly: "The Takeda family is a headache opponent, I hope this time Takeda Daizen will know the difficulty and retreat!" ”

……

Quietly, a long cold winter descends on the land, and unlike Echigo, where there is a lot of snowfall every winter, it is the dry season every winter in the Kanto region. At this time, the peasants are idle at home and have nothing to do. They will be called up by the commissioners to serve in the general service. Although it is not as cost-effective as paying wages in previous years, the peasants are still quite happy to earn a ration for nothing.

The days are getting better and better, not more frightened than in previous years, always worried that the year is not good to encounter a great plague, the old people and children will not be able to die, and the lords will fight and then forcibly recruit to fight, then there is really only a choice to escape from the famine, but now it is not like this. Military service was basically not apportioned to the peasants.

When the lords of various places draw Ding, they will give priority to the old underground people in the village, which is a special requirement for the landlord class, and if there are land assets, they must bear the obligation of conscription at any time, and they do not recruit that is the kindness of the general's mansion in peacetime, and they need to serve in the military in wartime, and then choose the concentric people who are responsible for the self-defense and protection of the village.

The peasants didn't like to go to the same people, thinking that it was a place where only lazy and idle scoundrels were willing to stay, and it was also a good thing for the old men of the official army to catch these pranksters to serve as soldiers. Save them from having nothing to do with guns and wandering around, which is annoying, whose children have the ability to be directly elected to the Kwantung General's Mansion as sharp soldiers. Even if you can't be a samurai, you can go back to the village to buy an industry and become an underground person in the village after a few years.

Nowadays, the peasants live a comfortable life, it doesn't matter if they are a little busy in spring and autumn, and they live the most comfortable in winter, and the wheat in the field is planted as long as the relatives at home take care of it, and the laborers who can exert their strength roll up a few clothes and bedding, and follow the long procession to dig big rivers and open canals, there is always something to do waiting for them, and the commissioners arrange for tents to camp and stay, and sometimes dig hori to cut the horses, and the commissioners say that they should practice wartime crafts at any time, and they can come in handy in case they recruit people.

In the Edo Castle Imperial Palace, Ashikaga Yoshitoki fiddled with a silver-white coin in his hand, which was the most common currency of the Spanish Empire, and the conquest of Central America by the Spanish Empire at the beginning of this century was a sensational event in Europe, more than thirty years ago, Carlos V set up a mint in Central America, and the first silver coins issued were named after him and his mother.

England also has the casting technology of Eagle Ocean, but it is a pity that England at this time is not the invincible empire where the sun never sets, and many enemies from inside and outside have become a problem for the rise of this country, and the biggest threshold is the Spanish Empire that is also a friend and foe, King Philip II of Spain, has always been obsessed with his sister-in-law Elizabeth I, which is the only way for the wise queen to bargain and buy time.

The goods brought by Claudia involved not only the trade of trade goods, but also the most valuable exchange of technology, Ashikaga Yoshitoki exchanged water hammer technology for coinage technology, which was a deal that could not be talked about who lost and who earned, both sides took what they needed to complete their own needs, England needed water hammer technology to improve industrial technology, and Ashikaga Yoshitoki needed his own currency.

On the obverse of the silver coin is Ashikaga two quotations and two patterns, below is a few small characters in the consistent text of folding money, and on the back is the seven characters of the writer of the gold hook iron painting "Nan no Hachiman Great Bodhisattva", and the edge of the eagle ocean is used with wavy sawtooth teeth from the Jiajing Tongbao, and ordinary profiteers have no water hammer technology and lack of coinage technology, so they do not want to make inferior coins to shoddy.

Ashikaga Yoshitoki held the eagle ocean and gently blew out a familiar humming sound, exclaiming: "The pattern is clear and there is no trace of the axe and chisel, the color is delicate and rich, and the production is exquisite, it is really a work of art." ”

"This is just a sample of the first batch of silver coins, and the second and third batches of silver coins will be minted in the future, and we have already mastered the craftsmanship of the Nanban, and I believe it will not be long before we can make exquisite silver eagle coins." Matsui Tomokan took a few more sets of samples, and the handwriting on the back was the same, but the Ashikaga two quotations printed on the front became Sasa Ryu gall and five seven tongs respectively.

Pick up a handful of silver coins from the tray and throw them down gently, the silver coins collide and make a pleasant tinkling sound, a stack of silver coins overlapping each other exudes a silver-white luster that is dazzling, even if the old peasant in the countryside who does not know a single big word, he will realize that this plate of silver coins is worth a lot of money.

Glimpsing the little surnames sneakily sticking their heads out to poke their brains, Ashikaga Yoshitoki coughed and scared them away, before he said: "The minting of silver coins is related to military affairs, and we must not leak the treasured secret arts, and from now on, we will quietly collect the circulation of silver to the outside world, and eat all the silver on the market to mint silver coins, and it is not particularly necessary for gold coins to be postponed for the time being." ”

Matsui Yu said casually: "Your Majesty can save it, this matter has always been controlled within a very small range, except for Your Majesty and His Royal Highness, probably only the few small surnames outside the house know." ”

Ashikaga Yoshitoki smiled lightly: "There is no problem with Yu's surname, you don't need to worry about this, speaking of which, your brother's sister-in-law Matsui Yasuyuki has also been a small surname in the house for a few years, and it is said that he is also the sister-in-law of the Ina Tadashi family, and Tanaka Yoshimasa, the son-in-law of Tanaka Shigemasa, and called the three commissioners, many retainers said to Yu that the general's mansion is full of talents, and it is more useful to stay in the house for a few years than to be the eldest son of the family, and Yu also thinks so!"

Mitsui Toraka's second son and Yoshichi were on duty by Yu's side, and Yu praised him for being able to take time to be no less than Hosokawa Fujitaka, Keijiro and the boy of the Zuo family, as well as the boy of the Ii family who followed Zhenwang Maru to ride horses and run around all day long, and gradually honed a superb bow and horse archery skills. ”

"Obey the orders of His Royal Highness." (To be continued......)