Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 234

On January 13th, Tensho Year 6 (mid-February 1585), after more than half a month of marching, Hideo finally met with the daimyos who participated in the Battle of the Four Kingdoms in Himeji, and led the 2 troops representing the entire army. Shi went to Osaka Castle to meet Hashiba Hideyoshi.

At this time, Osaka Castle has undergone a year and a half of construction, and the main building of its Honmaru has been basically completed. The majestic five-story seven-step castle tower stands beside the Yodo River like a silent guard, even in Amagasaki Castle 15km away. can see.

According to scholars, Hideyoshi's original version of the castle tower used for load-bearing wood life may exceed a thousand years, is a rare national treasure in Japan.So much so that during the Edo Shogunate period, when they wanted to rebuild Osaka and Edo Castle, it was difficult to find such load-bearing wood.

The army led by Hideka boarded a ship in Takamatsu, and when they arrived in Okayama, Hideka took his retainers and, under the protection of the entourage and the bannermen, headed for Himeji Castle non-stop to reunite with those who had been waiting here for a long time. Your names.

The army of the daimyos also disbanded in Himeji, led by the elders to return to the skills, and he could only lead dozens of guards to Osaka with the Hide family according to the number of knowledge and knowledge, and of course there was Nagamune who was escorted out of Shikoku by the Hide family father and son.

When Amagasaki Castle was being repaired, the 70-meter-high keep of Osaka Castle could already be seen from a distance.

It has been a year and a half since Hideyoshi started construction on the basis of the original base of Ishiyama Honganji Temple at the end of Tensho 11 (1583).

The Honmaru stone wall alone is 40 meters high, and the giant castle tower is like a high mountain uprooted from the flat ground. If it can be preserved in the world, it must be a building that can become a world wonder.

Hideyoshi originally intended to cover the castle tower with gold tiles, but in the end, due to cost and load-bearing issues, he had to replace it with tiles with gold leaf. Glittering like a city of gold.

Later, because the gold leaf could not be exposed to direct sunlight frequently, the gold leaf tiles were replaced by copper tiles, but its bling bling was still maintained. In reality, the green roof of Osaka Castle is the green patina after the copper tiles have been corroded.

As a building that symbolizes his authority as "people of the world", Hashiba Hideyoshi devoted all his efforts to the architecture of Osaka Castle.But regardless of these flashy decorations, even the towering stone walls and the sky-high castle tower are enough to give people a great sense of oppression.

Obviously, Hideyoshi achieved the desired effect.Even Hideka, who was already mentally prepared, was shocked and intoxicated by him the moment he looked at Osaka Castle. Compared with Osaka Castle, its castle town is so small that it gives people a sense of Osaka Castle. with a wasteland feel.

Hideyoshi, who was recuperating in Amagasaki City, received a reply from Hideyoshi on the 8th. The Four Kingdoms Army will be received by Hideyoshi on the 15th, and will be taken to Xiali City by the general.

It is worth mentioning that after the establishment of the castle tower of Osaka Castle, Hideyoshi once went up to the castle tower to look around, but was blocked by these scattered fortresses around him, so he ordered that all the buildings within the sight range of Osaka Castle be dismantled. A city of non-important nodes.

A total of 6 cities and 10 villages, including Ruojiang and Kuboji Castle, were demolished. Xiali Castle was preserved because of the need to serve as the garrison of the Toyotomi family at this moment.

Of course, the official ceremony for Hideyoshi to summon the legion is scheduled for the 15th, but Hideyo, as the general, needs to go to Osaka with Ishida Mitsunari to report the situation of the battle to Hideyoshi in advance.

On the way to the city, Hideka found that a large area outside the Honmaru of Osaka Castle had been vacated, and some residents had already started to build soil, which should be in preparation for Erzhimaru.

Between these earth barriers and the Honmaru is a long ditch with a width of nearly 50 meters. This should be the Honmaru Water Hori that was difficult for birds to cross in history.

Walking up the earth barrier step by step, even though it is tens of meters away from the Honmaru earthen wall, the Xiu family can still feel the unique impact brought by this kind of mountain and stone building.

Passing through the Oteguchi Gate where the wall is being painted and tiled, the Hide family has officially entered Uchimaru of Osaka Castle. On the right side of Oteguchi is the large tea room under construction, which was transformed into Toyokuni Shrine after Hideyoshi's death.

Walk along the Omoto Maru for nearly [-] meters to the outside of the Sakura Gate. A Sakura Gate divides the city into two worlds. Unlike the bleakness of the Omoto Maru, the plants in the Omoto Maru are well taken care of. There are different trees in four seasons. And flowers open, so that there are excellent views to enjoy inside.

Along the way, Xiujia and Ishida Matsunari seemed like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden for the first time, looking left and right, because they had never seen such a luxurious palace.

But before Xiujia could appreciate the scenery inside the Sakura Gate, Xiujia noticed for a long time that on the corridor not far from the entrance, there was a kind middle-aged man, squinting his eyes and looking at Xiu with a pleasant smile. Family.

"Uncle Xiuchang!" The Xiu family saw the man very clearly, ran towards him quickly, threw off the cloth shoes on their feet, boarded the corridor, and rushed to Hashiba Hidechang for a hug.

It's just that the boy from back then is now 13 years old, and he is already half a head taller than Xiuchang, so he can only hug Xiuchang.

The Xiu family's behavior was very disrespectful, but they had the most sincere family relationship between people. The biggest person present was Hashiba Hidecho.

"I've seen Dr. Zuakyo." Just as the Hide family was enjoying the rare family affection in Hidecho's arms, Ishida Mitsunari finally came to the corridor and saluted Hidecho.

At this moment, Ishida Mitsunari no longer had the arrogant expression of Shikoku, but returned to that extremely serious and indifferent appearance, even when greeting people, he did not show any emotion.

"Oh, Zuoji, are you back too?" Xiuchang patted Xiujia's back, indicating that he could let go of his hand.

Hideyoshi, who was loosened by Xiujia, asked happily, "Why did uncle come back to Osaka? Is the war in Hokuriku going well?"

"A little earlier than you, I came back before the Chinese New Year. I thought I would be a few days later than you, but you came later than me and told me to wait." Everyone entered the palace together with him, and said over and over again, "Brother heard the news of your return. He was so happy that he didn't sleep well last night. He is waiting for you inside now. Follow me in quickly."

The decoration of the entire palace corridor highlights the character of its owner Hideyoshi.Hideyoshi, who pursues perfection, requires that no scabs be seen on all exposed wood, so every inch of wood is carefully screened, and cypress that is not prone to scabs is used. However, there are no cypresses around Kinki, and all cypresses are Uesugi Kagekatsu Presented from Echigo and Dewa felling.

Every mortise and tenon structure of the wall corridor, in order not to expose the joints, is specially carved with Wusantong pattern here, and it is also covered with gold leaf for coloring.The reflection of the gold leaf makes the gallery bright even in the shade.

After walking around a few corners, Hashiba Hideha made a confession and walked into an inner hall.Hideyoshi and Ishida Mitsunari followed closely behind, and the person sitting on the main seat was the man who would control Japan for the next ten years—Hashiba Hideyoshi.

However, Hideyoshi was wearing a leather weaving feather with a tiger pattern, and was skillfully turning the fire in front of him with the wooden stick in his hand. It turned out that this was a tea room, which was exactly where Hideyoshi used for family gatherings.

Hashiba Hidecho sat on Hideyoshi's left-hand porch, Hideya saluted Hideyoshi opposite Hideyoshi, and Ishida Mitsunari did not enter the tea room because of identity issues, but knelt down at the edge of the tea room and the wall corridor and saluted Hideyoshi.

"Oh, don't kneel down. It's rare that our Hashiba family's father, son, uncle and nephew gathered so neatly, so why don't you get up quickly. Try the tea I specially brewed for you, and see if my tea ceremony skills have improved." Hideyoshi asked the two After Renping died, he handed the tea saucer that he had been tinkering with for a long time to Xiuchang, and after Xiuchang took a sip, he passed it to Xiujia, who then gave it to Ishida Mitsunari to taste.

To be honest, Hideka is not used to the taste of Japanese matcha, especially such a saucer with former saliva, are you really not afraid of the Helicobacter pylori warning?
But in front of Hideyoshi, Hideka still put on an expression of admiration and praised, "Father's tea is really delicious. I can learn from some masters."

When Hideyoshi heard Hideka's praise, he also laughed and said, "This is the latest technique Sen Rikyu taught me. How can I cook it okay?"

"The taste is very good. Father, can you teach me a little bit?" Xiujia continued to compliment.

Hideyoshi, who was complimented by Xiujia, seemed to be very pleased, he picked up the tea set again, and was about to cook another dish for Xiujia, "Do you need to wait until the next time, how about I demonstrate it to you first?"

"Cough cough" just at this point, Hideyoshi reminded Hideyoshi with a dry cough, and Hideyoshi also understood that we should talk about the business now, so he put aside the gap he just picked up in his hand, and led the three of them to the side hall beside the tea room.

Due to the lack of a fire pit in the hall, the temperature was much lower than that of the tea room on the side, and everyone tied up their clothes tightly in hopes of keeping warm.

After everyone was seated, Hideyoshi finally spoke, "Shikoku's affairs are doing well, Hachiro, at least it's better than I expected. My original idea was that Changzong's family might not be easy to solve, so I reserved it for them. The bottom line of Tosa Ichigoku, but after your Buwu, the most difficult thorn has been pulled out, and the land of the four countries is finally completely owned by me."

"By the way, I've already read the report you wrote above. How much does Tosa Ichikuni really know and do? Is it really more than the 9 shi that was handed over by Nagamune's family?"

Hideyoshi had long expected that Hideyoshi would ask himself this question, so he had already prepared for it. He sorted out the number of people and armaments of each army recorded in the welfare of the four countries, and submitted it to Hideyoshi for reading, and explained.

"I don't know the absolutely accurate situation of knowledge and action. After all, there is not enough time. I can only use a little cleverness to find out the situation of Tosa." After that, Hideka told the story of his "benefits" in Tosa and the reasons for it. explained it again.

Hearing Xiujia's explanation, Hideyoshi, who was flipping through the account books registered by Xiujia, laughed and said, "You are still so eccentric, you can think of such a way."

Then he looked at Xiuchang and Ishida Mitsunari behind the Xiu family and said, "However, the method of the Xiu family is a clever plan. It is impossible for the family to take care of the new territory for a long time, but if you don't know the real situation of the territory before the enfeoffment, There are often situations where knowledge and action are more than less.”

"If we can use a small amount of money to conduct a preliminary screening of the new territories, will it be of great benefit to our subsequent territorial allocation? Zuo Ji, you were in Tosa at that time, and you were in charge of the specific matters of the two counties. Come on." Tell us your opinion."

Ishida Mitsunari, who was pointed out by Hideyoshi, shook his body, and said to Hideyoshi, "This strategy can indeed be implemented one or two times. According to my observation, the most important point of this strategy is to control the number of rewards. If the rewards are not tempting enough, the people may not be willing." Coming out of a remote village, if there are too many rewards, it will be a waste of supplies."

"In addition, this strategy can only obtain relatively accurate population data. The actual data of Zhixing can only be calculated through arithmetic, which has a certain error. As for the amount of error, we will not know until the Tosa inspectorate."

"Besides, I don't think this matter is necessarily for the use of Xinling. In the name of festivals, we can call people from all counties to the county hall to receive rewards. First, we can demonstrate the benevolence of the lord, and later we can It is used as an auxiliary for local geodetic data."

As expected of Mitsunari Ishida, he pointed out the problem straight to the point, and by analogy, he felt that it could be applied to ordinary ground inspections.

Ishida Mitsunari's answer was affirmed by Hideyoshi and Hidecho, Hideyoshi nodded and ordered Ishida Mitsunari, "You and Hachiro are responsible for this matter, so you should write a note to list the details and problems in it." Come out, and if you have any questions, you can ask Hachiro. After the final confirmation, give me the list for reading."

"Imperial intention" Ishida Mitsunari agreed.

After Hashiba Hideyoshi got the answer he wanted, he took a deep breath and continued, "Since Tosa's real Ishitaka is already clear, and Nagamune's family has indeed concealed knowledge and military service status, then Hachiro's decision is correct. Well done, Hachiro will continue to work hard in the future."

"Yes, thanks to the care of my father and the teaching of my uncle, I discovered the little tricks of my ancestors, so that my father will not be fooled." When celebrating, remember that the credit is always given to the leader first Theirs, even if he didn't really deal with it, it was their leadership.

"It's because you dealt with it on the spot in a timely manner. If you recognized it at that time, it may be difficult to deal with Changzong's family in the future." You put a high hat on the leader, and the leader will naturally give you a hat and praise each other Rao is so.

Hideyoshi Hashiba's arguments were agreed by Hideyoshi and Hideo, and Hideyoshi then asked Hideo, "Then, do you have any conclusions in your mind about the handling of Nagamune's family?"

As soon as Xiujia heard this, he understood that today's first exam was finally here.

(End of this chapter)