Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 542

As an independent daimyo, Yuxita's family didn't need or have the qualifications to go to Guan Xiu's house.

However, as the elder cousin of the Xiu family by blood, in the past Yu Xi's family's relatives and important officials in the family still wanted to help the Xiu family from the bottom of their hearts.

The most important thing is that his father, Ukita Tadaka, is still serving as the governor of Ezo at this moment, and he is still under the command of Hideka.

Xiujia originally thought that Quanjia would take advantage of the opportunity of independence to ask Xiujia for Huizhongjia, but it has been a long time since he asked.

In the end, it was the Xiu family who took the initiative to say, "In the past two years when the Ezo Governor's Mansion was first built, my uncle really helped me a lot. Now that you have gone out on your own, what I mean is to recall my uncle after a while so that he Enjoy the secluded life with peace of mind.”

Hearing Xiujia's answer, Ukita Kanjia remained expressionless, but expressed his gratitude to Xiujia politely.

Hideka looked at the awkward environment, thought for a while and said to him, "My brother knows the situation of Ezo, and my uncle has contributed a lot to our family's Ezo business, but after all, Ezo is at the northernmost tip of Japan. Sanuki is just too far away.

Let me see it this way.I hand over 2% of the Ryukyu trade to you, which can be regarded as my gratitude to my brother and uncle for their dedication. "

The Ryukyu trade is essentially the trade with the Ming Dynasty. With the permission of Hideyoshi, the Hideo family directly bypassed the Ming merchants to trade with the Ming Dynasty, and there was no middleman to make the difference.

Not to mention only 2%, this is 2% of the trade share, 7 to 8 guan a year, and the profit is about 3 to 4 guan, which is a proper profiteering project.

It's no wonder that Yukita's family finally had a rare smile on their faces after hearing that the Xiu family had transferred their share of the Ryukyu trade.

Don't look at Ukita's answer is to reject Xiujia, but Xiujia saw joy and excitement from his expression, it can be said that Xiujia's arrangement is exactly what he wants.

Sanuki Ichigoku is now about 17 shi, deducting 1 shi from Ouchi County, and Ukita’s family has 16 shi+.

在5公5民的税赋之下收税8万石，折钱2万贯，就算在加上地子钱等杂七杂八的税赋一年也不可能超过3万贯。

But the Xiu family just closed and opened their mouths now, allowing him to have the same amount of trade income as their neighboring countries, how can we not make him happy.

"It's just brother, brother has something to ask, even if the matter of Ezo is still rotten in your stomach, you and your uncle please forget about it in the future."

Compared with Ryukyu, which was purely used by the Hideka as a trading point, Ezo plays a more important role. This will be an important location for Hideka's next major development, and an important base for Hideka to hide its own strength.

Using 2% ​​of the Ryukyu trade in exchange for his tight-lipped about Ezo, this deal is not a loss in the eyes of the Xiu family.

In addition, after Xiujia lost Okayama, Xiujia planned to develop Iyo on a large scale as a transit point for trade with Ming and Ryukyu. Iyo and Sanuki were next to each other, and it was just a matter of little effort for him to directly obtain part of the trade share.

After communicating with Ukita's family, Xiujia did not stay with Ukita's family for a long time, and asked him to go back to Okayama to arrange the things he ordered, while Xiujia set off from Osaka to go north to Kyoto.

The distance from Osaka to Kyoto is about 40 kilometers, and it takes 2 days to walk. Hideka and a few people can go for a short brisk walk on horseback in about 1 day.

As I said before, Hideyoshi is currently in Juraku, Kyoto. The reason why the daimyos gathered in Osaka to accept their official awards is to let the daimyos know that they surrendered to the Toyotomi family before accepting the official position of the imperial court.

Logically speaking, Hideyoshi asked everyone to wait for him in Osaka, and there was no reason for Hideyoshi to go to Kyoto, but he really missed his wife, Ju Ji, and his newly born child.

Hideka deliberately inquired about Hideyoshi's itinerary from Katagiri Kamoto in Osaka yesterday and this morning, but heard that he had not set off from Kyoto, so Hideka set off from Osaka to Kyoto with a small number of entourages.

Of course, the Hide family was going to Kyoto, so it was impossible to go alone. As usual, they asked Ogasawara Hidetada, who lived in Osaka Castle, if he would go with him.

On the eve of the battle in Kanto, Hideyoshi, in the name of his wife Ning Ning, summoned all the famous people from all over the world to Osaka, and Hideyoshi's younger sister Kyoko was among them.

In fact, she went to Osaka with Xiuzhen's two sons. Later, after Hideyoshi returned to Osaka, as Hideyoshi relocated the political center to Kyoto Juraku, the family members of the daimyos also moved to Kyoto. .

In other words, Xiuzhen and Kyoko have been separated for more than half a year, and now if they want to see their wife and children, they still have to go to Osaka.

The two left Osaka City at noon and rode their horses all the way to Kyoto. By the time they arrived in Kyoto, the sun had already set.

Kyoto is no better than Sakaimachi, and there are not many entertainment activities at night, so there will be a curfew at night.

The entire city wall of Kyoto was rebuilt by Hideyoshi after he arrived in Kyoto. The city wall should not be understood as the Chinese city wall that can be used for horse-drawn carriages. If we must compare it, it is a taller landlord courtyard wall.

For the style, please refer to Gyeongbokgung Palace in South Korea, that is, the construction of several city gates is more domineering.

It is impossible for ordinary people to enter the city after the gate of the capital is locked, but who is the Xiu family?When the Wuqi Tongwen flag seal appeared in the sight of the warriors defending the city, he immediately reported it to his superior warriors.

Soon after, Hideyoshi's banner samurai came forward to confirm Hideyoshi's identity, and the locked gate of Kyoto opened again.

Walking to the various mansions in the east of Jule, the Xiu family and Xiuzhen parted ways.Xiujia originally thought that his arrival would surprise Ju Ji, who would have thought that Ju Ji was not in the mansion of "Kanto Toyotomi's family".

After asking the samurai who stayed behind, I found out that during this period of time, Ju Ji felt too bored to be alone, and had been living in the mansion of the "Gifu Toyotomi family" nearby, that is, living with her natal family.

Seeing that it was getting late, the Xiu family didn't disturb their rest, but walked in directly early the next morning when the front teeth came to open the door.

The servants of Toyotomi's house in Gifu were a little surprised by the sudden arrival of the Hide family early in the morning, and led the Hide family inside one after another while going inward to inform Hidecho and the others.

Not long after, Xiu's family was ushered into Xiuchang's yard, and found that Xiuchang had already got up, sitting on the verandah basking in the sun and fiddling with a piece of wood.

Toyotomi Hidecho, who is 50 years old this year, is already showing his old age, but compared with the thin face last time, he is much better, at least his face has regained some energy.

Before Xiu's family arrived, they were already concerned: "Uncle, why don't you sleep a little longer, now is the time when you need to take care of your body."

"Oh~ it's Hachiro here." Seeing Xiujia coming, Xiuchang stopped the movement of his hands, looked at Xiujia and said, "When you are old, you can't sleep, and you will wake up after lying down for a long time. .It's midsummer now, and I just took advantage of the cooler morning to get some things out of the way."

After finishing his speech, Xiu stood up with the support of Xiao Xing, led Xiu's family into the hall, and sat down with Xiu's family facing each other to make tea for Xiu's family in person.

"I heard that you went to Osaka to wait for my brother's reward. I thought you would come back in a few days, but I didn't expect you to come today."

"I entered the city last night. It was too late at that time, so I didn't disturb you, Uncle." Xiu's family rebelled against customers and poured tea for Xiuchang and said calmly, "I really planned to come to Kyoto after the business in Osaka. I have something to deal with in Kyoto, I have been with Kikuhime and Hachiro for four years, so I came here in a hurry."

"Ah~ yes, Hachiro!" Hidecho became energetic when he heard the name, "Now we have two Hachiro in our family, one is 'big Hachiro' and the other is 'little Hachiro', in order to distinguish them, I'm afraid we will use 'Xiujia' in the future." I'm here to call you."

"Uncle can call the baby whatever he wants, but I've been using the name for more than ten years, and it's really hard for me to accept it~"

After hearing this, Toyotomi Hidecho pointed at Xiujia and scolded with a smile, "There is no reason for a father to be jealous of his own children, but Hachiro is indeed much more well-behaved and sensible than you."

"It is indeed 'Hachiro''s blessing to be loved so much by his uncle."

While the two were talking, there was a sound of rustling footsteps outside, which was the unique sound of women's little feet moving.

The two followed the sound and saw that it was Ju Ji who came to see Xiu's family with her nanny holding Hachiro who was still asleep.

Although they are husband and wife, Ju Ji still strictly abides by the etiquette of the Wu family. After seeing the Xiu family, she saluted, "You have worked hard."

Xiujia stepped forward to help her up quickly, took her hand and sat beside her and said, "You are the one who has worked so hard. I am very sorry that I can't be by your side when you have a child and you are close to death."

It's really rare for a husband and wife to treat each other with such respect, and outsiders who don't know about it may even think that these two people are strangers who don't have a particularly good relationship.

Ju Ji took Hachiro from the nanny and handed it over to Xiu's family. Although the Xiu family had several children before, they were still not very proficient in carrying the children at the front door, so they woke up the sleeping Hachiro.

"Wow ~ wow ~ wow ~"

The baby's crying startled the Xiu family, but fortunately Ju Ji and the nanny beside him had already prepared to take Hachiro from the Xiu family, and coaxed him well in a short while.

"It seems that Hachiro doesn't like you very much, Xiujia." Looking at the story just now, Xiuchang smiled and teased Xiujia, and went to the nanny to tease the child.

Hachiro was very amused by his grandfather, the corners of his mouth were tilted to the sides, and the corners of his mouth were leaking.

"It worked for you." Seeing this picture of harmony between grandparents and grandchildren, Xiujia said a little embarrassedly, "It seems that Hachiro really likes you very much!"

Talking about Hachiro, Xiuchang immediately became interested, "That's right! Hachiro only laughed when he saw me. Every time my brother came to tease him, he was the same as you. Hachiro responded to him with tears."

Looking at the warm smile on Xiuchang's aged face, Xiujia suddenly forgot that at this time in history, his life had reached the countdown.

Hidecho in history, around the first month of the 18th year of Tensho (1590), Hidecho's condition began to deteriorate, so he did not participate in the Odawara expedition. Around October, his nephew Toyotomi Hideji even went to Tanzan Shrine to pray for Hidecho's recovery from his illness.Until the 10th year of Tensho (19), Hidecho died in Yamashiro, Yamato County, at the age of 1591.

Xiujia remembered that before he went out to fight in Kanto, when he came to see Xiuchang, he had already stepped into the coffin with half of his foot.

And the Xiuchang I saw today, although his face is still tired, but his spirit is much better, and he can even sit and talk with Xiujia, and play with Hachiro on the side.

"Uncle's body is really much better than when we met last year."

The whispered conversation between Hideka and Kikuhime was heard by Hideonaga, he raised his head to look at Hideonaga and replied, "Either Hachiro is really the lucky star of my Toyotomi family, it's because I have Hachiro's company that makes me look good again The second spring~"

As he said that, he sat down on the ground again, and continued to play with what Hachiro said, "I heard that my brother gave 5 shi as Hachiro's nourishment? I told my brother a few days ago that I planned to use the Jiangxi Juji makeup Drawing another 1 stones will add a lot of color."

Hearing that Xiuchang doted on Hachiro so much and directly gave out 1 shi, the Xiu family said with some embarrassment, "It is really a blessing for Hachiro to have the favor of you two grandpas!

He was awarded 6 shi just after he was born. Counting the territory I left for him in Musashi, he was already 1 shi before he was one year old, which is equivalent to some Chinese lords.It’s so hateful to say it~”

"What do you hate?" Hearing the ridicule from Xiu's family, Xiuchang reflexively said, "I love my own grandson, why should they hate?"

Perhaps it was the sudden change of face that frightened Hachiro, and Hachiro, who was held in the arms of the nanny, suddenly started to cry, and Xiuchang immediately turned into a grandson and respectfully coaxed the child.

After a long time, it was hard to coax Hachiro well, but at this time Hidecho was exhausted.
Xiujia stepped forward to support the tottering Xiuchang, asked the left and right to bring a chair and cushions to place on it, and gently stroked his breath.

It was only then that Xiujia realized that Xiuchang's body did not recover, but because of Hachiro's existence, he was in a happy mood and he was well-adjusted, so his body bones recovered a little.

"Since uncle is in such a situation, he should take good care of him in the future, and he should not be so excited and tired again."

Before the Xiu family finished speaking, Ju Ji on the side also said, "I've talked to my lord father many times, but he just won't listen."

Xiuchang finally took a sip of tea from the teacup, and said with a sigh of relief, "It's okay, it's okay, I know my own body, and I don't know how long this day can last, of course, I want to enjoy the last family happiness."

As he spoke, he grabbed the hands of Xiujia and Juji, put them together and said, "Thank you for bringing me Hachiro when I was most vulnerable, otherwise I really don't know how long I can last."

(End of this chapter)