Prime Minister Bizen

On August 18, the 1590th year of Tensho (8), Tsuruoka Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura, Sagami.

Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine was not originally a shrine. It was the ruling center of the Kamakura shogunate. It is somewhat similar to Nijo Castle in Kyoto, so you can see the outline of the "city" on the basis of the existing Hachimangu Shrine.

With the invasion of Kamakura on May 3, 5, the Kamakura shogunate fell, and the significance of Hachimangu Shrine as a "city" gradually faded in the long river of history.

However, because it was the seat of the Kamakura shogunate, Japan's first shogunate, he had a deep influence in the minds of the samurai and Genji.

As long as the conditions permit, the generals of later generations will come here to complete the final process after the enthroned general, and pay tribute to the glory of their ancestors.

In the middle and late period of the Muromachi Shogunate, the Kanto governor represented by the Uesugi clan, a relative of the Ashikaga clan, and the Kanto Gongfang represented by the Kanto Ashikaga clan have been fighting over the ownership of the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine.

After the Hojo clan took control of Sagami, Tsuruoka Hachiman Shrine became an important place for the Hojo clan to support puppets.

It's just that what the Hide family sees now, and the Tsuruoka Hachimangu Palace where Uesugi Kenshin succeeded to the Kanto ruler in history is no longer the original appearance.

The reason still goes back to the time when Furukawa and Xiaogong separated. That war may not be a part of the focus in the modern Warring States history, but it was a thrilling battle for the Kanto families.

The two sides fought from the 14th year of Yongzheng (1517) to the 6th year of Tianwen (1537). The scale and intensity of the war was no less than the struggle between dragons, tigers and lions in later generations, and it was no less than the story of the Oda family. Let's talk again if we have a chance.

In November of the 4th year of Taiyong (1524), the coalition forces of Satomi and the Uesugi family once broke through Tamawa Castle north of Kamakura, and Tsuruoka Hachimangu was also destroyed by fire at that time.

Later, Ashikaga Yoshiaki had a dispute with the Satomi family and other high-ranking families, and he was defeated in the later struggle with the Furukawa Ashikaga family because of this incident.

As a descendant of the famous Genji family, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who temporarily lived in Koumi after Kamakura Kokamo, burned down the Hachiman Shrine. How much impact did you say this incident had on Koumi Komi's forces.

Although it is said that it was Satomi Yoshitaka's men who set the fire, and even Satomi Yoshitaka claimed that he didn't know about it, and sent people to put out the fire after knowing the incident and beheaded the samurai and ashigaru who were arrested by fire prevention, but you don't want to use this pot. I have to carry it on my back.

Tsuruoka Hachiman Shrine is the patron saint of Genji and Kamakura. It is also an object of worship for Yoshiaki Ashikaga, a descendant of Satomari Yoshinari, who is the descendant of Satomi Yoshinari, and Ashikaga Yoshiaki, a descendant of Kanto Gongfang. It is a symbol of his ancestors.

After the fire of Hachimangu Shrine, the prestige of Satomi and Ashikaga Yoshiaki plummeted in Kanto, so they had to choose to make peace with the Hojo clan at a time of great advantage, and accepted the conditions proposed by the Hojo clan to jointly repair the Hachiman Shrine.

It is a very dangerous move to show weakness to the Hojo clan at a time of great advantage, which is directly regarded as surrendering to the Hojo clan, and the authority of Yoshitoyo who dominated the battle due to defeat was hurt.

Judging from the results after the war and the attitude of the Hojo family, it is really possible to say who set fire to the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine!
Anyway, this Hachiman god is the ancestor of your Genji, not my Hojo clan's ancestor. My Hojo clan is after the Taira clan!
...

In fact, when Hideka arrived at Tsuruoka Hachiman Shrine on July 7, he had already prepared the etiquette for the ceremony to be held tomorrow.

It's just that when Xiu's family arrived in front of the gate of Hachiman Palace, the thoughts in their hearts inevitably fluttered a little.

Taking advantage of the welcome of Furukawa Ashikaga's old Noda Hirotomo who was also here, Hideka leaned over to him and his family's old Akashi Kageo, and asked softly, "Yin Yushou, Umasuke, you said that there are already 8 empresses in the world. Is it possible to have a female husband?"

The two of them turned pale with fright when they heard what the Xiu family thought, especially Akashi Jingqin, who stared at the Xiu family with wide eyes, "Your Highness is"

In fact, the Xiu family regretted it after asking this sentence. In any case, it is no longer the Warring States period. The official positions of the imperial court and the shogunate are no longer inherited by fathers and sons, but need to be appointed by the imperial court (Hideyoshi) .

Leaving aside the legality of Ashikaga Ujihime becoming the female husband, if the Hide family supported Ashikaga Hime as the female husband here, their rebellion would have been clearly revealed.

In less than two months, Hideyoshi's army may come to Kanto again.

"Don't think too much." Xiujia said in time to make up for herself, "I'm just discussing an issue of etiquette, which doesn't mean I have thoughts about it."

The two breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that the Hide family had no such intentions, and Noda Hirotomo replied seriously, "There is no precedent for this matter. It's not a minority until the family name is cut off, have you never heard of a woman succeeding as family governor?"

"Didn't Jing Yin Zhihu of Yuanjiang Jing Yingu be the governor of the family for a while?"

"The nature of the two is different. The local tyrants of Jing Yin's family have never been educated and ignorant of etiquette. Even Naotora is the governor of the family for a short time. And my Ashikaga family is a model for the world. How can I do such a thing?"

Inheriting the Kanto family naturally has its own set of etiquette, but now the Hide family or the Ashikaga family are not inheriting the Kanto family, but proclaiming the Hide family's intention to marry the family to the Hachiman God, which is naturally not as it used to be ostentation.

However, it is said that the ceremony has been omitted, but it still looks very grand, and the samurai and daimyo accompanying this time are even more dazzling than when Nagao Jinghu succeeded the Kanto leader and changed his surname to Uesugi Masatora last time.

On that day, the wind was warm and the sun was warm, and the summer sun even irritated the skin a little.

The wild flowers in summer are swaying left and right under the gentle breeze, and the cherry blossoms on both sides of the Hachiman Shrine road have long since withered, and now is the time when the branches are lush with green leaves.

800 Hideo's banner samurai guarded the streets in armor and armor. Each of them wore the standard Nanban armor distributed by Hideo, and used blue ropes to string armor pieces. Yan Yu looked extraordinarily heroic.

Just the lineup of nearly a thousand banner samurai on both sides of the road is much taller than the ashigaru mixed samurai Kenshin Uesugi.

The standing eucalyptus on the helmet of the Japanese samurai has a variety of shapes, but when it comes to the Xiu family, they are all unified into golden winged eucalyptus by the Xiu family. Coupled with the goose feathers on the top of the head, this army is surrounded by the surrounding people. The image is called "Yan Yu Bei".

This time the Xiu family went south with the Kanto and Uo princes on the same road, and now passing through Kamakura, since the Xiu family is going to hold a sacrificial ceremony, they are naturally willing to sell the Xiu family's face to attend, and at the same time see the appearance of this Genji Shrine .

...

In addition to these daimyos, several important retainers of the Hide family, from Nobushige Sanada and Kensada Kobata who were far away in Ueno, to Nobuo Takeda Ishido who was in Ueno, all came here, standing on both sides before the ceremony started.

When the time came, Xiujia rode on a group of white horses and came from a distance to Hachiman Shrine with the sound of gongs. Behind Xiujia was a gorgeous sedan chair decorated with gold, and the person sitting in it was the current Kanto Ashikaga. Shi's only heir - Ashikaga Ji.

In fact, in terms of traditional etiquette, the Xiu family must also come in a sedan chair, but the Xiu family is too tall. Now the 19-year-old Xiu family is already a 180-year-old "giant". It can be temporarily changed to riding forward.

Xiujia was wearing a fine attire today, and behind him were 4 handsome warriors of the same grade as him.

Kagawa Jing, who is the head of Xiujia's attendant, is holding a pear-pattern spear with a blade length of 50 cm and a total length of 3 meters. The guard is near Xiujia.

The real position of the racecourse is behind Xiujia, desperately holding up a red-handled umbrella to follow Xiujia's footsteps, the drooping ornaments on the side of the umbrella flutter in the wind, making a "jingling" sound.

Shigeko Hojo holds his hands tightly and thinks about the power of Ukido's "Black Dragon Maru" is located near Hideya.

And the one leading the horse in front of the Hide family is the third son of Ota Suzumasa, who is now the heir of the Sekisu Ota family, Ota Keisuke.

Don't think that the job of leading a horse is very lowly, but don't forget that when the emperor came to Juledi, it was Toyotomi Hidecho who personally led the horse for His Majesty the Emperor!

These four people are the four closest attendants of the Hide family at the moment. Among them, the Kagawa family represents the old power of the wealthy family who followed Hide family from the west country, the horse field representative represents the power of the Hide family's relatives, and Hojo Shigehiro and Ota Keisuke represent the Kanto respectively. The previous two opposing forces.

Judging from the Xiu family's inclusion of these few people as their close attendants, the Xiu family has been exposed to the current internal power of the family.

In addition to these four, three young generals favored by the Hideo family, Todo Takatora, Sanada Nobushige, and Kan Masatoshi, acted as the forerunners, leading 50 attendants and warriors with guards of honor in front of the queue.

Behind the sedan chair were the gifts that the Hide family was going to present to the Hachiman Shrine, as well as Noda Hirotomo, Akashi Keiki and others who were in charge of finishing the queue.

It is worth noting that Harusuke Koda and Naoto Isshiki, who participated in the ascension of Yoshishi Ashikaga before, can only stand and watch from a distance as the company of Hidetada Ogasawara this time.

Hideka dismounted in front of the gate of Hachimangu Shrine, and waited for the Princess Ashikaga to come out of the sedan chair behind her, and walked beside her side by side.Now the real job at the racecourse finally doesn't have to hold the umbrella so high.

The attendants who had been guides before had already lined up on both sides of the Xiu family's road, and the Xiu family's guard of honor had begun.

As the representative of the family elders, Todo Takatora took the lead, and with a few attendants, he continued to enter the interior of Hachimangu Shrine with Hideka's gentian Gosachitomon pattern and Ashikaga stone's Ninobiki family pattern.

It is said that they are taking the lead, but their speed is actually very slow, because Xiujia and Shi Ji are wearing fancy clothes today, it is very inconvenient to move around, and the clothes Shi Ji is wearing outside need 3 maids to lift the hem behind them so as not to drag the floor .

Shimazaki Utaemon, a retainer of the Ashikaga family who participated in the ceremony at that time, wrote in a letter to his family:
...

Under the attention and blessings of all the people, the right general (Xiujia) and the nephew Fangyang (Shi Ji) entered the interior of Hachiman Palace, walked along the stone steps to the "Dancing Hall" and stopped.

General You personally used a ladle to complete the hand-washing ceremony for the nephew, and then the nephew returned it to General You, which shows the love between the two.

After the water purification ceremony, the two are led by the community officials to the Hachiman Hall, which is called participation.

The general on the right stepped forward three steps, handed the saber hanging from his waist to Sanada Kanjie (Nobushige Sanada), the lord of Tatebayashi, and entered the hall. Under the guidance of the priest, he sat on the right side (from the perspective of God, it is on the left side). And worship in front of the gods, and return to Yidan to pray.

Neigong Fangyang then stepped forward and worshiped the gods on the left side, praying for blessings.

The great priest of the Hachiman Palace came forward and personally held a ritual for the two, praying to the gods to forgive their past sins, and they were pure and married.

Afterwards, all the great names and famous ministers who watched the ceremony from left to right in the court, led by Toyotomi's old Mingshi Jingqin, bowed their heads in congratulations, admired and engraved their hearts, and sincerely wished.

When it comes to the food offering ceremony, the priestesses have prepared food for the gods, such as rice, wine, water, salt, delicacies from mountains and seas, and things that the gods like. These are to pray for the gods to protect the husband and wife for a perfect marriage.

On behalf of Neigong Fangmang, General You presented a sword, a dragon's hoof (a famous horse) and a hundred taels of gold representing the Wu family. These are in order to ask the gods to protect the Ashikaga family and the Toyotomi family of Kanto for the prosperity of martial arts.

The priest will play the congratulations, formally report the marriage to God, and pray for eternal happiness, and the priest will play the congratulations.

Since the ceremony of the three offerings had already been completed in the previous Iwafu Castle, it was skipped directly before the Hachiman Shrine this time, and the great priest directly played the vows of the two previous people.

Then the witches began to play Kagura, and the monks began to read the "King of Kings Protecting the Country Sutra", declaring to the Buddha that the two families are the pillars of protecting the country, and hope that the Buddha can protect the two families forever and prosper.

The Zhubu chanted Nakatomi's prayers, and 5 Kagura men and 8 saints tuned the time with their sleeves turned.

The bells are rustling, the drums are beating, the incense smoke is everywhere, and the lights are shining inside and outside.

While singing the praises of Kagura and the "Nioh Sutra", the two performed the jade string worship ceremony under the witness of the gods and sages.

"Jade skewers" connect the hearts of those who worship the gods.It is the only precious tool that can convey wishes to God.From now on, the two will place their "determination to walk through life together as a couple" and honor it.

Afterwards, the two took two plates of divine wine from the priest, turned to face the crowd, and drank each other under the gaze of the crowd.

On behalf of the gods, the great priest and many priests, together with the daimyo and warriors in the hall, offered blessings to the two.

At this point, the ceremony of General You and Neigong Fangyang announcing their marriage to God Hachiman is officially over.All the monks, miyi, and priests in the monastery were bestowed with countless gold, silver, clothes and silk.

Tsuruoka Hachiman Shrine is a Shinto-Buddhist shrine. As I explained earlier, Shintoism is very inclusive of foreign religions. Buddhism has also undergone certain localization reforms. In Japan, Buddhism also belongs to Shintoism. One of the eight thousand gods.

It's just that Buddhism has strict requirements, and monks are not allowed to intervene in the love between men and women in the world, and there are no specific scriptures to praise the love between the two.

Therefore, I can only sing "The Sutra of Protecting the Country by the King of Ren" on the sidelines, and pray for the Buddha to protect the prosperity of the two martial arts.

The ceremony of the three offerings skipped above refers to the exchange of wine glasses between the bride and groom and the conclusion of the couple's contract.

Drinking divine wine from the same wine glass will bond you tightly as a couple.

There are 3 kinds of wine glasses, large, medium and small, also known as small: past, medium: present, and large: representing the future.

Small "Raising my ancestors, gratitude for the past that met"

Medium "My ambition is to marry this person and work together"

Big "wish to build a happy family and swear eternal love"

The standard of this ceremony is as high as that of Uesugi Kenshin when he succeeded the governor of Kanto.

If it weren't for the fact that certain ceremonies are not easy to overstep, the Xiu family might have copied the ceremonies of the year, but in this case, the sentence "Kanto Toyotomi Hachiro's heart is known to all passers-by" may be left behind.

Although Hideka did not overstep in the ceremony process, but in order to highlight his courage and attach importance to Ashikaga Jihime, Hideka surpassed Uesugi Kenshin in scale and cost by a lot.

Just like for this ceremony, Akashi Jingqin repaired the Tsuruoka Hachiman Palace and the street together with Iwafujo, and even paid for the renovation of the houses along the street.

It is worth noting that in 1561, because of his Fujiwara family status, he rode on a horse proudly and was unwilling to dismount. No ancestry.

Prime Minister Bizen