The sun rises in the east, and the light shines brightly.

The shogunate envoys said goodbye to Nagao Jinghu, and after leaving Inoue Castle, they changed from land to waterway, raised sails and pulled flags, and went down the river. Surrounded by mountains, the Shinano Province is often covered with dense fog near the Hirano Valley, especially the tidal flats on both sides of the Kawa River and Seto, making it difficult for non-experienced Chikuma River thieves to cross.

Therefore, they did not go fast along the way.

However, there are many camps and mountains and forests on both sides of the river. Sitting in the boat, looking at the mountains and mountains, the endless river meanders down, boundless, and the scenery on the shore is handsome, and the mountains and rivers are even more majestic with snow, which is very different from the calm and peaceful Lake Biwa in Omi, but I don't feel depressed.

Half a day, unconsciously, he had arrived near Haijin Castle and approached the sphere of influence of the Takeda Army. At most, you can walk a few dozen miles to Akasawa Castle, where Takeda Shingen's main camp is located.

The names of the castle manors of the Warring States period are often the same as the names of the locations or the main family. This Akasawa Castle is no exception, originally owned by the Shinano wealthy clan Akasawa clan, after Takeda Shingen occupied Suwa County, he went north through Shinshu, cutting off the family names of many wealthy people, and the Akasawa clan was one of them. It was once assigned to the ability to be placed under the jurisdiction of the acting official of the Zhuang Sho Bao Division, and was later given to the meritorious samurai as a land of Wanxing. The city is not big, and the terrain is quite important.

It happened that there was fog on the river, and the leaders of the water thieves came in and asked if they wanted to dock temporarily.

The shogunate envoy went out of the cabin and watched from afar. But I saw a heavy fog, overwhelming, tumbling and covering, intertwined with the river, covering the mountains and forests on both sides, occasionally there were eagles and falcons skimming, falling into the white mist, and disappeared in an instant. After standing in the fog for only a moment, the black hat of the hunting clothes was wet, and the wind blew, and it became colder and colder.

"The fog is too big, and the villain's boat is a small morning boat and not a big boat, so I dare not continue to sail, for fear that it will touch the reef, which is too dangerous."

Even though the shogunate envoy was in a hurry, he refused to let the mountain god go, so he had no choice but to say, "In this case, stop and dock, and wait for the fog to dissipate, and then set off." ”

The leader of the water thieves went to pass on the order, asking his subordinates to find a shore crossing, collect the sails and stop the boat. The messenger had something on his mind, and when he returned to the cabin, he was also sullen, so he simply took up his hands and paced up on the deck.

The shogunate's official name was Kyogoku Takayoshi, a four-year-old man of Bunkame, who had been watching for 55 years. Because of his noble background, he was in charge of a family with four positions, and in his early years, he raised troops to compete with his brother Jingji Gaoyan for the position of family governor, and was defeated and exiled. Many years ago, when the Great Imperial Palace went to the Rotten Wood Valley, he waved his flag in response, recorded his merits and listed them, and before he went to the official position, he had been promoted to the post of Central Affairs Major Auxiliary and Nagato Guard.

The seven daimyo of the Muromachi shogunate, the three managers and four positions, were intertwined and controlled the official career.

Even after the Onin Rebellion, the Kyogoku clan, who had already been defeated by the retainer Asai clan and usurped the national industry, were still high-ranking officials, even though these former nobles may not be as talented as the local wealthy people, but it was precisely because of the downfall and dissolvance that they would be loyal to the current 'strong public party', in a vain attempt to assist the shogunate in reviving and recovering the lost family business.

It was precisely because of this group of mediocre ministers who filled the shogunate that the 'strong public side' who wanted to reform the Shogunate inevitably felt constrained when evaluating decisions, and conversely, it was because of their existence that the crumbling Muromachi shogunate barely maintained the last shred of decency.

Unlike those conservative shoguns, Kyogoku Takayoshi was an enterprising reformer, despite his age.

This is also one of the reasons why the shogunate sent him to Shinano to mediate the strike of the Nagao and Takeda families.

The deputy envoy's name is Hosokawa Fujitaka, but he is a shogunate attendant, who has followed the current public Ashikaga Yoshiteru many times to crusade against Mitsuki, and the attendant is meritorious, not only the kendo is profound, but also in the songs, poems, and tea ceremony. Keju, Go and other literary and Taoist also have good attainments, it can be said that he is a rare samurai who was born in a famous family of the shogunate, but can achieve both civil and military skills.

He lifted the curtain of the boat, saw Kyogoku Takayoshi sighing for a long time, bent down and walked out, and said, "It's windy on the river, why don't you go back to the cabin to rest?" Don't look for a cold. ”

In order to show the prestige of the shogunate and its determination to adjudicate the Shinano dispute, Kyogoku Takayoshi was temporarily appointed by the Shogun as the head of the shogunate before his arrival, and was named after Hosokawa Fujitaka.

Jingji Gaoji walked to the side of the ship, looked at a stubborn stone by the river, for a long time, and sighed, "For thousands of years, how many kings and generals have changed, and it has always stood unchanged, only this thing." Fifty years of life, like a dream and illusion, within the sea and sky, how can there be an immortal - Dunsheng Le Cheng does not deceive me! "The waves were turbulent, and the crashing washed away the rocks on the shore, and how many ice floes and cold fog were broken, and the wind and waves were blowing, and the rocks stood still.

"Why is the company suddenly so emotional?"

Kyogoku Takayoshi stood in the wind, watching the boat slowly approach the ferry, and the river wind carried his robe rustling. He turned his eyes to the west, and at the end of the country, he couldn't see the shogunate of Kyoto. In the 200 years since the opening of Muromachi, the martial arts have been bumpy, and almost no day has been smooth. First, there was a thousand years of chaos, the north and the south of the two dynasties stood side by side, and then there were several times of chaos in the world, and the public side ran between the guards, and was bullied by the powerful ministers and thieves.

Finally survived the war, the general of the public side had the heart to work hard, but was affected by the fire of the army, and the ambition of the three rebels and wolves occupied half of the country in just over ten years. Now that there are strong enemies outside and troubles inside, seeing that the power of the shogunate is declining, like the waning sun, the prospect is really worrying.

"Last night in Inoue Castle, I read the military newspaper on the front line. Tokaido Toe Kunichi high-level clan samurai, Shi Sheng personally led fifty soldiers to rush into battle, rampant, Murakami Yubayashi is a fierce general, Ueda samurai can also be called the world's strongest soldiers, but it is difficult to lightly plunder its edge, what is the so-called? Not in the strength of the troops, but in the loyalty and courage of the righteous people! ”

"Wait for the temple 1 to use Shitai and Shizhi brothers as deacons, and take charge of the soldiers and horses of Ueno and a country, and then level the Kanto Xiaochou, and now the descendants of the Gao family are famous in Kanto, but they are not used by the shogunate. Is this providential? Or is it a lot of luck? ”

Although Hosokawa Fujitaka was close to the side of the attendant and read poetry and books, he suddenly understood why Kyogoku Takayoshi was emotional, and it was difficult to say it when it came to shogunate. He was silent and said, "Lord of the Prince's Prosperity, we just need to do our best to assist, and when everything is in place, the shogunate will rebuild." ”

The boat shook violently and docked from the shore.

The two of them looked at the sky, the fog was vast, and as far as the eye could see, the plains and mountains and forests were as obscure as the prospect of the shogunate. The 'strong public side' who still lives in Omi Kuchigi Valley is really the master horse of Zhongxing as he says? They didn't know.

Whether the strategy of borrowing the power of the local daimyo to crusade against Sanzhu can really succeed, the two of them still don't know.

1 Ashikaga Takashi

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