In the military tent of the Luo family outside the city of Youtian Yuecheng in Yoshishiki County, Zhou Fangguo, Masahiro was frowning and looking at a young man who was less than twenty years old in the costume of a minister.

This young man was discovered by Isono and others in the castle tower of Mt. Utada. What gave Masato a headache was the young man's origin and his name. It turned out that this young man was the 14th shogun of the Muromachi shogunate in history, the son of the 12th shogun Ashikaga Yoshiharu, the younger brother of Ashikaga Yoshiharu.

Historically, in the future, with the thirteenth shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru being killed by Matsunaga Hide and the Miyoshi three, and Ashikaga Yoshiei will be supported by Matsunaga Hide and others, and the following year he entered Settsu Tomita, and in the tenth year of Eiroku (1567), he asked the imperial court to make him a general, and in February of the following year, the shogun proclaimed (ascended the throne), and in September of the same year, Oda Nobunaga entered Kyoto, and Ashikaga Yoshiei finally died of illness before the war began (there are also rumors that this puppet general was actually assassinated).

Masara was a little surprised by the sudden appearance of this guest in front of him, and he didn't think about what to do with this guest for a while. The reason why Masara is so entangled is mainly because of the father of the young man in front of him.

The young man's father, Ashikaga Yoshino, was the second son of Ashikaga Yoshisumi, the 11th shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, the younger brother of the 12th shogun Ashikaga Yoshiharu (Ashikaga Yoshiteru's father), and the adopted son of the 10th shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori. Ashikaga Yoshiki was originally a puppet supported by Hosokawa Harumoto to deal with Ashikaga Yoshiharu, and later fell into the whirlpool of struggle between the Hosokawa family and the Miyoshi family. In the first year of Astronomy (1532), Miyoshi Motocho was killed by Hosokawa Haruhinoto, and Ashikaga Yoshinori took refuge in Hirashimaso, Tenryuji Temple in Awa Province. So it was called Hirashima Gongkata.

Because he has been against Ashikaga Yoshiharu before. So as the son of Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Ashikaga Yoshiki naturally has no good impression of him. Now Ashikaga Yoshiteru has come to power. And the Luo family has always had a good relationship with the newly appointed shogun, if the relationship with Ashikaga Yoshiki was stiffened because of the acceptance of Ashikaga Yoshiharu's father and son, it would not be a good thing for the Luo family.

Although the Luo family does not need to rely on Ashikaga Yoshiki at this time, on the contrary, the other party needs the Luo family even more at this time. But it's not good to have a rift between the two families. It's just that if you send Ashikaga Yoshinori and his father and son away like this, it doesn't seem to be so easy, after all, the other party is the prince of Hirashima. In short, how to deal with the matter of the young man in front of him. As long as there is a slight mistake, it will cause a lot of trouble, at least the reputation of the Luo family is likely to be affected by this.

Just when Masato was entangled, Ashikaga Yoshiei, who was at the bottom, was also depressed. Although they had already received rumors that the important ministers of the Ouchi family were going to fight against the Maori family of An Yi Country, in the eyes of their family, with the strength of the Ouchi family, this battle was undoubtedly won. So Ashikaga Yoshiei simply ran to the area near Mt. Uda Castle unsuspectingly.

As a result, Ashikaga Yoshiei, who had only been playing for a while, suddenly received news that the Ouchi family had been defeated, and what shocked him even more. It was not the Maori family that defeated the Ouchi family, but the Luo family that appeared out of thin air. For the Roche family. After coming to the Yamaguchi of Zhou Province, under the rumors of many ministers and literati who had settled in the Yamaguchi area, Ashikaga Yoshiei also heard about it. In short, in the eyes of everyone, the Luo family is a giant that has suddenly risen in the Kyushu region in recent years.

Now such a giant suddenly attacked the Ouchi family, and according to the descriptions of those who fled to the Yamaguchi area, the army of the Luo family was about to rush here with lightning speed. With the arrival of this news, there was chaos everywhere around. In a panic, Ashikaga Yoshiei had no choice but to run with his men to the nearby Mt. Utadake Castle and ask the retainers of the Ouchi family in the city to send someone to escort him back to the Yamaguchi area.

As a result, something frightened him, and the lord of the castle did not know what his considerations were, and instead of sending troops to escort him back to the mountain pass area as he requested, he put him under house arrest. As for his men, the men were simply taken into the castle cells and guarded, while the maids remained in the castle tower as their daily servants, and the lord of the castle, who had decided to put him under house arrest, never came to see him at all.

Soon after being placed under house arrest, he soon went to the terrace of the Guò castle tower to see the Luo family army suddenly killing outside the city. In this way, he was placed under house arrest day after day in the castle tower, while also watching the battle between the army of the Luo family who were besieging the castle and the defenders of the Utian family who were defending the castle. In the process, he seemed to be forgotten in a corner, and no one paid attention to him again. Just when he had already accepted his fate, there was a sudden change today.

It turned out that this afternoon, the castle tower suddenly flooded into the castle tower, and at the same time, Takashi Uda, as the lord of the castle, also fled into the castle tower. As the lord of the city, Takashi Ukita explained the situation in the city to him with a solemn expression, and bluntly said that the city was about to be captured by the Luo family, and as a retainer of the Ouchi family, he decided to die for the Ouchi family, and as for the fate of Ashikaga Yoshiei, he could only ask for more blessings.

After that, he witnessed Takashi Uda commit suicide by caesarean section in front of him, and then after the army of the Luo family rushed into the castle tower, he also fell into the hands of the Luo family, and was brought to the male lord in front of him, who was also very young, but was known as the governor of the Luo family.

Thinking about what happened during this time, Ashikaga Yoshiei really felt very depressed, and he even wondered if his father's decision to settle in the Yamaguchi area with his family was right.

So, why did the Ashikaga Yoshiei family, who originally settled on Awadaira Island, suddenly appear in the territory of the Ouchi family in the western kingdom?

The reason for this is that the Miyoshi family is rapidly annexing the power of the Hosokawa family. As Miyoshi Chokei defeated Hosokawa Harumoto several times, and even exiled Hosokawa Harumoto to Tango Province, the Miyoshi family gradually established a powerful territory in Kinai.

Of course, Miyoshi Chokei defeated only Hosokawa Harumoto, who represented the Hosokawa family's clan, in fact, there were many branches of the Hosokawa family that each controlled the Sanki country, the Awa family, the Awa country and other regions of Shikoku, so Miyoshi Chokei entrusted his younger brother Tokawa Ichiku, Miyoshi Yoshiken, and Ataka Toyasu to start expanding the power of the Miyoshi family in the above areas. At the same time, the power of the various branches of the Hosokawa family was weakened (when Hosokawa Harumoto was in power, he offended the various branches. So when he was attacked by Miyoshi Chokei. These divisions did not support Harumoto Hosokawa).

On August 19, 1552, Miyoshi Yoshiken, with the help of his fourth brother of Saki Province, Tokawa Ichiku, raided his titular lord Awa to protect Hosokawa Mochitaka (Hosokawa Mochitaka was the governor of the Hosokawa family's Awa family), assassinated Hosokawa Mochitaka at Misekiji Temple in Banto County, and then purged the pro-Hosokawa clan forces among Hosokawa Mochida's ministers.

The murder of the lord was unusual, and it immediately caused an uproar among the powerful Hosokawa retainers of Awa Province (most of whom were local tyrants). In order to calm the controversy. Yoshiken Miyoshi realized that he had to be superficially recognized by the Awaping Princesses in order to justify his actions. Therefore, on August 22, three days after the assassination of Hosokawa Mochitaka, Miyoshi Yoshiken invited the elder of the Awa Miyoshi family, who had become a monk at the time, to enter the Miyoshi Minbu and asked him to go to the Hirashima Gongkan to clear up the assassination and the current situation.

After the two sides met, Rusan explained euphemistically: "This matter was rushed because Yoshiken was inexplicably hated by the lord and felt uneasy about his own situation, so he had to resort to such extraordinary measures in order to protect himself." That's all. The territory of the duke, the retainers know and act as before. The Miyoshi family will not dare to make any changes, and the Miyoshi family will be as loyal to the public as the Hosokawa family. The main family, the Hosokawa family, has set up his heir Rokuro (Hosokawa sweeping head Shinyuki) to inherit, this son is talented and intelligent, and will be able to revive the family business. As for the princess who was stranded in Shengrui City, the ministers thought that it was the responsibility of our Miyoshi clan to protect their personal safety, so they hereby passed on the news of peace anyway, and asked Qingyunyuan to continue to keep Shengrui City. After finishing speaking, he bowed deeply on the straw mat in the middle.

Ashikaga Yoshiei's father, Ashikaga Yoshiyo, spent his youth under Hosokawa Mochitaka, and he was always grateful to Hosokawa Mochitaka for his help in ensuring that the Hirashima domain remained stable. Now, Hosokawa Chitaka, who has not yet completed his career, was killed so suddenly, thinking of this, Ashikaga Yoshino couldn't help but be angry, and immediately replied: "I made my own decision to kill Hosokawa Mochitaka and did such a reckless act, who is it on now that I am standing on?" I don't need your explanation, let's go back quickly! ”

Seeing the angry expression on his face, Rusan replied, "This doesn't seem to be a problem that can be solved with affection, so please think about it carefully." He said that he would stay here and wait for a final answer, but Ashikaga Yoshiyoshi still insisted and threatened expulsion, so Nyozo stopped his mediation activities and returned to Katsurui Castle.

After this incident, Ashikaga Yoshinoi secretly thought about whether to leave the Miyoshi family's sphere of influence and move to other places, but considering that his biological mother Kiyounin was now under house arrest as a hostage, Katsurui City, in view of this, it was not advisable to move to another country regardless of his mother's safety, but it was better to ensure the safety of his family in Hirashima.

And Miyoshi Yoshiken, who was refused to be forgiven by the Hirashima Princess, had no choice but to make a fuss from Hosokawa Chitaka's son in order to appease the wealthy families. Rokuro, who was appointed by him as the governor of the Hosokawa family, was born to the concubine of Hosokawa Mochitaka, but because his wife did not appear, he was made a son-in-law. So Miyoshi Yoshiken said to his retainers: "The reason why the assassination of the lord Hosokawa and the domination of the entire land of Awa was really a last resort, and it was originally only intended to protect himself, but none of the retainers were martyred underground, which also shows that the death of the prince was a matter of fate." I should take good care of his noble son, Rokuro, so that he can receive a good education, and in the future I should treat him as a servant of the Duke of Chitaka. ”

So Miyoshi Yoshiken took Mayuki back to his mansion to raise him. Soon after, the Hosokawa retainer Sano Tanba Mamoru raised an army to avenge the traitor Miyoshi Yoshiken who assassinated the late lord Kimichi Takashi, and was supported by a group of powerful samurai led by Kume Yoshihiro, the lord of Shibahara Castle, but was soon defeated, and Sano Tanba Mamoru and Kume Yoshihiro were killed in battle, and the Miyoshi family's rule in Awa was even stronger. In the 22nd year of Astronomy (1553), in order to help his elder brother Miyoshi Chokei in the political activities of Kinai, Miyoshi Yoshiken crossed the sea again and defeated the traditional forces of Hanoi, such as Hatakeyamao Zhang Shouzhi Takamasa and Yasumi Naomasa (Zongfang), etc., and soon returned to Awa Here, the local wealthy clan of Awa Province no longer existed against the Miyoshi family. But the Hirashima government has been watching this coldly.

About a year and a half have passed since the murder of Hosokawa Mochitaka. Ashikaga Yoshinosa's biological mother, Kiyomoin, misses her son too much. He died on March 16, 1554 in Shengrui City. Ashikaga Yoshinori retrieved his mother's coffin and buried it in the Bodhi Temple Seikoji Temple in Ashikaga Ichimon, Hirashima.

Later, the entire Awa clan gathered at Seikoji Temple to make offerings to the first anniversary of the Seiun-in Temple, and a grand ceremony was held to mourn Hosokawa Mosataka and his retainers, and the Seiun-in Hall was held. In the name of the deceased retainer Arakawa Minbu Shosuke, Tominaga Toyoshi Gomori, etc., the fields of about three antis of the Nakasu River in Hirashima were sent to Seikoji Temple.

After his mother's puja, Ashikaga Yoshinori sent a message to Yoshiken Miyoshi of Katsurui Castle: "Hosokawa Mochitaka, whom I had been blessed with in the past, is no longer alive, and my mother has unfortunately passed away, and I no longer want to stay in the sad place of Awa. Now I would like to leave Awa and go to his wife's maiden house, and rely on Ouchi Yoshicho of Zhou Fang, and now I will cross the sea to China. ”

In the face of such a sincere application. Miyoshi Yoshiken felt that even if it seemed of little practical value to stop and force the Hirashima Princesse to stay in Awa now, he ordered a large ship to be sent to him and his family. There were only six samurai left with Ashikaga Yoshimui who came to the Hirashimakan at that time. Ashikaga Yoshinori summoned the lord of Kawachi Province, Wakasa Village, Kannao and Yuasa Kanetsuna, to face Yun: "Kan Dingnao, you can return to Hanoi from now on, and always pay attention to the information in the Kinai territory, and report to me in time who is in the periphery." So he decided to return to his homeland with his family.

Ashikaga Yoshinoi Matsumo: "Kanetsuna can stay at the Hirashima Pavilion as my agent, responsible for all kinds of matters related to the scheduled sacrifice of my deceased mother, and convey my edict to Miyoshi Yoshiken. "Yuasa Kanetsuna was born in Awa, and he always diligently approached the task of sacrificing to the Seiun-in Temple, and later belonged to Miyoshi Yoshiken.

In the first year of Koji, Ashikaga Yoshinoi's ship left Hirashima, where he had lived since childhood, and led his clan to Zhou Defense Province, and the residents of Hirashima in the port of Furutsu watched the ship drift away and finally disappeared into the distant sky. Since then, it has marked the end of the cooperation between the Hirashima Princesses and the Miyoshi family, the real power of Awa. This time, it was the ship of the Hosokawa branch of Sanki Province that was responsible for escorting the Ashikaga Yoshinoi family, but at this time, although these sailors were still under the banner of the Hosokawa family, they were actually all controlled by the Miyoshi family.

Ashikaga Yoshinoi's wife is the daughter of Ouchi Yoshiko (Ouchi Yoshitaka's father), and she is in-law with the Ouchi family, so when their family rushed to Zhou Fangguo, they were naturally welcomed by Ouchi Yoshinaga. At this time, the Battle of Itsukushima was still brewing, and they didn't know that the behemoth of the Luo family would also participate in the changes of the Ouchi family in the future, so they settled in the local area safely. Soon after, the Battle of Itsukushima broke out, and the Luo family, who became the eventual winner, took the opportunity to enter the territory of the Ouchi family, and Ashikaga Yoshiei fell into the hands of the Luo family.

At this time, Ashikaga Yoshino, who was at home in the Yamaguchi area, did not know that his son Ashikaga Yoshiei had fallen into the hands of the Luo family. And Ashikaga Yoshiei, who is the party concerned, is also uneasy in his heart at this time, he even thought that he would be killed, but he was very unwilling, after all, he was only eighteen years old, and he hadn't experienced many beautiful things in this world yet.

"Send someone secretly to Hizen's Gakufu Castle, and take his maids and servants with him. Don't let people know about this for the time being, let alone let people know his identity. Just when Ashikaga Yoshiei was worried in his heart, Masarashi finally determined his end. On the side, Kato Duanzo immediately received the order.

Due to Ashikaga Yoshiei's special status, it is indeed impossible for too many people to know his identity and whereabouts at this time. As for Ashikaga Yoshiei's father and others, Masarashi planned to temporarily send some black hawks to infiltrate the Yamaguchi area, arrest them first, and move them to a safe place to avoid accidents caused by the war. When Zhou Fang completely falls into the hands of the Luo family, he will also suffer the same treatment as Ashikaga Yoshiei, and he will all be relocated to the Hizen country area of Kyushu.

The arrival of Ashikaga Yoshiei is just a small episode, and next, it is the focus to speed up the progress of the strategy against the Ouchi family, Zhou Fangguo and Nagato country. (To be continued......)