Pillars of the Wu family

Takikawa Tokima is two years younger than Maeda Toshiie, and both of them are tall people among a group of short people, but Takikawa Tokima is taller and stronger. When he stared at Maeda Toshiie's At that time, the evil spirit released inadvertently frightened him, his whole body was icy cold, and his eyes seemed as if two sharp knives were about to poke holes in his body.

Maeda Toshiie secretly grieved, he has experienced many battles in the past few years, since he accidentally killed Toami and experienced a short life in exile, he realized that the most important thing for a samurai is not the lord's favor, but his own The law of commanding troops and the power of martial bravery offended Oda Nobunaga as hard as Shibata Katsuya did, but after sitting on the bench for a few years, he came back again. He just killed a lowly fellow friend by mistake and was killed. exile.

In the past few years, he has been practicing martial arts very hard, and he wrote a sincere letter of atonement to ask Wen to get Oda Nobunaga's forgiveness and was able to return, and he killed several Imagawa family members in the ensuing battle of Ozazama Not only did he return to the Red Mother Clothes Group due to his meritorious service, but he was also promoted to be the leader of the Red Mother Clothes Group, his status is much stronger than before.

Maeda Toshiie didn't want to make trouble, so he replied: "We are samurai from the Owari Oda family. I have something important to visit the town government. My name is Maeda Toshiie. When I saw your appearance, I thought it was my nephew, Maeda Qing Taro, I'm sorry for admitting the wrong person."

"Owari samurai Maeda Toshiie..." Takikawa Tokimashi held back his excitement, and asked in a trembling voice: "Then what is the relationship between Maeda Kurutoden and you?"

"Maeda Kuroto is my elder brother, I don't know you are..." Maeda Toshiie looked at him uncertainly.

Takigawa Keijiro sighed and said: "My name is Takikawa Tokimashi, more than ten years ago. My brother Zainai Keitaro went to Owari with his uncle Takikawa Kazuyoshi. It is said that he adopted Maeda Kuroto, the lord of the deserted son of Owari country, as an adopted son. It's just because of the bad relationship between my father and uncle, we haven't contacted each other for more than ten years, how is my brother?"

Maeda Toshiie looked very happy, and said cordially and enthusiastically: "So it's Takikawa-den! I've heard about Takikawa-don's reputation for a long time, and I'm very envious. I didn't expect that there is actually an in-law relationship. Keitaro lived very well in Huangzi City. As the successor of the family governor to assist my brother, speaking of it, I met him once a few months ago. I married my brother's daughter last year."

In fact, Maeda Toshiya had already guessed this possibility when he called Takikawa Tokima. He knew very well the ins and outs of his sickly Maeda Toshihisa welcoming Takikawa Kazumashi's nephew, and he also knew that Echigo had Takikawa Masashige The father and son with Takikawa Tokimashi are likely to be close relatives of Takikawa Kazuyoshi, but Takikawa Kazumashi never mentioned this matter in front of others, and he is not sure whether Takikawa Tokimashi has anything to do with his cheap nephew. How much is related, only know that they are both from the Takigawa clan and have Keitaro and Keijiro as their childhood names.

Takigawa Shimao relaxed, nodded and said, "So my brother is already married! That would be great... By the way! What's your name?"

"The name is for the benefit of Keitaro Maeda."

"Is Maeda Masari? It looks pretty good." Takikawa Tokima raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "I hope my brother can be an excellent samurai, but I remember that my brother seems to have a different temperament from me, no I really like the samurai life of fighting and killing. I like literature and songs more. I wonder how he is now?"

Maeda Toshiie said with a smile: "It's probably like what Takikawa-den said! Study Waka tea ceremony. The understanding of the way of arching horses is still relatively superficial. Keitaro's ambition is to be an excellent priest, and his brother also supports him very much. Decide."

"Well! It is enough for the Takikawa family to have me as a samurai who charged into battle, so that my brother can properly inherit the Maeda family's sect..." Takikawa Tokimashi slapped his head and said awkwardly: "Hey! Look at me stupid! Here Where is the place to chat and reminisce about the old days, since you are the emissaries from the Owari Oda family, please follow me! Go directly to Kasugayama Castle for lodging!"

The so-called four joys in life are encountering an old acquaintance in a foreign land. Although Samurai Owari is far from being an old acquaintance of Takikawa Tokimashi, once his biological elder brother is involved, it becomes a different scene. He completely regards Maeda Toshie as his own. Not only did he invite him to visit his own house, but he also invited his father Takigawa Masushige to reminisce about the old days. Maeda Toshiie told about his brother Maeda Mashige's life in Huangzicheng, and Maeda Toshiie's dictation made the scene change. very warm.

In fact, the relationship between Maeda Toshiya and Maeda Toshihisa is not as close as imagined, because Maeda Toshiya is weak and childless but wants to adopt the son of the Takigawa family forcibly. Unable to stay in Huangzi City during this turmoil, he became Oda Nobunaga's attendant by virtue of his outstanding appearance.

Maeda Toshiie hated his elder brother from the bottom of his heart. He was obviously sick and had no heirs, but he was unwilling to adopt his brothers as the heirs of the family governor. He just wanted to find a samurai family who was not from Owari and belonged to the wife of Maeda Toshihisa to adopt an adopted son. From the perspective of him and many members of the Maeda family, this is the stupid act of his elder brother who prefers his relatives regardless of the safety of the family.

Because of a dispute over the establishment of an heir, the unity relationship accumulated by the Maeda family over the years was destroyed, and Maeda Toshiie took his younger brother Ryoyuki Sawaki to become a member of the Red Mother Clothes by virtue of his looks and bravery. After ten years of struggle and accumulation, they The two brothers are not inferior to Maeda Toshihisa, who sticks to the rules, and even surpass them in the degree of trust of the lord.

Moreover, since that turmoil, Maeda Toshiie rarely returned to Huangzi City to visit relatives, especially a few years ago, he married Asong as his wife and gave birth to his eldest daughter Yukihime to form a warm small family. Going back to that indifferent deserted city to see his brother's face, but he couldn't say that in front of Takigawa Masashige and Takigawa Keijiro, and he could only try his best to recall the stories that Zong Ling saw with his own eyes and told him. The father and son listened.

The two were also very happy to hear that their son's position as the heir to the family governor was very stable. They also learned that the Maeda Toshi family had married and had children in Cheongju City and set up a small family. Handle, a carefully selected Mutsu Liang horse, Yongle Qian [-] Guanwen.Twenty bolts of various fabrics.He also kindly presented a carriage and two pack horses for transportation.He also asked Maeda Toshiie to take care of this son, and this money was considered a one-time reward.

Maeda Toshiie didn't expect to get so many good things in just one night. The Takigawa family's generosity and generosity were completely beyond his expectations. The Owari samurai who came with him all had envious eyes. Kinoshita Hideyoshi circled around Maeda Toshiie hoping to find out from him the situation of Takikawa and his son.

Niwa Changhide was very happy, and said with a smile: "His Royal Highness, it is really a good thing! Not only is it a good thing for the Maeda family, it is also a great thing for my Oda family. Make use of the relationship between the two Takikawa-den Maybe you can get unexpected results. Therefore, His Highness Toshika, please move around more frequently, and contact His Highness Takikawa more often."

"Understood!" Maeda Toshiie did not expect that he could also be the breakthrough point of this mission, but he knew very well that the influence he could have on the Takigawa father and son was very limited. After all, Maeda Keitaro had already been the adopted son of the Maeda family for more than ten years In a few years, he has long since become an out-and-out samurai of the Maeda family.

The father and son of the Takigawa family knew the rules of the samurai family very well. They just missed the eldest son for a while to visit his old hometown. It is absolutely impossible to expect the two of them to favor the Oda family because of this matter. This is also the reason for directly giving Maeda Keitaro some goods.

It's not that the father and son are not allowed to spend this little money, but I'm worried that rashly meddling in the affairs of the Maeda family will cause a strong backlash. The father of the adopted son who disappeared for more than ten years suddenly reappeared and sent a lot of good things that Huangzicheng couldn't give .What kind of meaning will this make the samurai of the Maeda family interpret?

Whether it was interpreted as trying to snatch Keitaro Maeda, the heir to the family governor, or taking the opportunity to intervene in the affairs of the Maeda family.It will bring a huge negative impact to Keitaro Maeda, and at the same time, it will cause turmoil and disaster to the Maeda family, which may put Keitaro Maeda in great danger. Their father and son will never dare to do such cross-border things.

Niwa Changhide called everyone together, and said solemnly: "Masters should know how urgent the lord is urging this time. A few years ago, the lord tried to discuss the possibility of marriage in the exchange of letters with the town government, but was finally rejected by the town government. My lord failed because I made a detour. This time we are under tremendous pressure to come to the mission. This marriage alliance involves the future development of my Oda family and the safety and security of my family. The command given by the lord is only success and no failure. If there is an emergency, there is no need to go back to Owari."

Kinoshita Hideyoshi asked with some concern: "I have a question! No need to go back to Owari, was he exiled, or..."

"Of course he committed seppuku! Wouldn't Fujikichiro still think about going into exile for a few years before returning to Owari?" Narumasa Sasao seemed to have a grudge with him, and always satirized Kinoshita Hideyoshi with harsh words, and every time He couldn't lift his head sarcastically, and this time, of course, he was staring at him and chasing him fiercely.

Kinoshita Hideyoshi looked at Narumasa Sasasa's sharp expression in disbelief, then looked at Maeda Toshiie's unawareness, and muttered in a low voice: "If you fail, you will commit seppuku. It's too harsh! Such a dangerous task, why is everyone not nervous at all?"

Maeda Toshiie scratched his chin and showed a distressed expression: "It's hard to say whether he will commit suicide by harakiri, but if he fails, he will definitely not be able to return to Owari! Speaking of which, I'm so left, why do I always encounter such a dangerous task! If you know it, you should find an opportunity to pretend to be sick in Qingzhou City, and if you really fail and are exiled from Owari, Asong and Yukihime will definitely be sad!"

"That's true! Ah Chun is still at home waiting for me to go back! If you really can't go home, you will be sad! Father-in-law Zhensheng will not force Ah Chun to divorce me and remarry!" Zuo Zuo Chengzheng also began to feel distressed. Several brothers of the Zuo Zuo family died in battle on the battlefield. After losing the protection of his elder brother, he could only climb up from the rank of samurai at the Oda family. Very likely to be exiled.

The more I thought about it, the more troubled I became, and the anger in my heart also rose. I turned my head and saw the dazed Kinoshita Hideyoshi, and couldn't help but continue to mock: "Among us samurai, you are the only one who hasn't touched a woman yet? Your Highness Katsuzaburo married The daughter of Arao Sakuemonden is his wife, and you are the only one who has no engagement yet? You should work hard to find a woman to marry before the age of 30!"

Ikeda Hengxing patted Narumasa Sasao on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Hey! Uchizosuke, don't you know? Fujikichiro seems to have a crush on the daughter of the Asano family, and I heard that he plans to propose marriage to His Highness Mataemon Asano. That woman seems to be called Ning Ning?"

Maeda Toshiie looked at Kinoshita Hideyoshi in surprise.Full of surprise, he said: "There is still this matter? Then congratulate Fujikichiro in advance!"

Kinoshita Hideyoshi explained in a panic: "It's nothing. Don't listen to His Highness Hengxing's nonsense, everyone. If it gets to His Highness Asano Mataemon, it will destroy a woman's Qingbai."

Ikeda Hengxing shrugged indifferently, as if to say that I cannot guarantee whether it is true or not, but Narumasa Sasao still asked: "Will His Highness Asano Mataemon agree? It always seems difficult to agree."

"It's actually not difficult! As long as we can successfully complete this mission, the reward given by the lord is enough for Fujikichiro to become a full-time job." Niwa Changhide turned to encourage Kinoshita Hideyoshi: "So please Fujikichiro We must work hard and strive for immediate success so that I can return to Owari in triumph, and all the warriors present will do their best to propose marriage to Fujikichiro!"

Kinoshita Hideyoshi vowed: "I, Hideyoshi, will do my best! I will never let this mission fail!"

A few days later, in Kasuga Yamashiro Daihiro, Yoshitoki met with Niwa Chohide, Maeda Toshiie, Sasasa Narumasa, Ikeda Hengxing, Kinoshita Hideyoshi and other samurai missions.Niwa Chohide respectfully bowed down: "At the lower Niwa Goro Zaemon, I pay my respects to His Royal Highness, Lord Zhenfu. On behalf of my lord, I would like to wish the Kamisu Ashikaga family a long career in martial arts, and Your Highness Zhenfu good health!"

"I'm sorry for Lao Oda Dan, and I wish him good health and long luck." Yoshihiro Kira looked at the mission with a smile and was full of curiosity, because he had already learned about the main composition of the mission through Kira Ninja. These prestigious warriors were full of curiosity and inquiry.

Maeda Toshiie is the largest and most conspicuous, and the skinny and short Kinoshita Hideyoshi is also very eye-catching when he looks around secretly. Sasao Narumasa takes care of himself meticulously like a serious and rigid samurai who follows the rules, and Ikeda Hengxing keeps his head down. Buwang scratches his cheek like a restless guy.Yoshitomo Kira never expected to meet such a group of family members of the Oda family on such an occasion.And they couldn't even get a word in, which made him feel very funny.

Niwa Chohide didn't know what Kira Yoshitoki was thinking, but seeing him sizing up his fellow warriors behind him, he quickly introduced: "These are my colleagues, Maeda Matazaemon Toshiie, Sasau Uchisuke Naruma There is Tokichiro Kinoshita..."

Yoshishi Kira also found that he had been staring at them for so long that he didn't notice it, so he concealed it unnaturally: "These are all ministers of the Oda family! Oda Dan is so loyal! Good at cultivating retainers, all of them are very good!"

The young samurai who shrank back and didn't dare to raise their heads suddenly became excited. It was enough for them to feel honored by Kira Yoshitoshi's compliment, even if it was a polite word. Niwa Chohide didn't expect it to be so smooth, so he said happily: I am here on the order of my lord, to discuss the matter of alliance and marriage with the Lord of the Town. My lord is still very moved by the sight of meeting the Lord of the Town in Shonai Chuan Heyuan more than ten years ago!

Thinking back to the afternoon of that style calendar 11 years ago, when I, Oda Saburo Nobunaga, met Kira Saburo in Shonai River Kawahara, it was a destiny. Thanks to the care of the town government for the past ten years, my Oda family has been able to go smoothly. To maintain the domination of Owari Ichikuni, it was the town government official’s timely notification of information in front of Owari Hazama, and the guidance like a beacon that allowed my Oda family to win a big victory...

Therefore, my lord hopes to be forever friends with the Lord of the Town, sign a covenant, form a family relationship, continue to extend and strengthen this friendship, and establish an ally relationship of watching and supporting each other, in order to deal with this troubled world. "

Niwa Changhide uttered a lot of sensational words, and there was even a large paragraph of Oda Nobunaga's recollection of the story back then. This long letter of belief lasted for half an hour. Attempts to interrupt with coughing were unsuccessful, and it was not until a long letter was finally read that everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

For a long time, Ben reminded unbearably: "It is better to use the destiny between men and women..."

Niwa Changhide also felt very embarrassed, but he had to continue to perform the routine designed by his protagonist, so he could only continue to pretend to be stupid and ask: "Then how about using the arrangement of gods and Buddhas instead?"

"Forget it...don't worry about it anymore." Ben Duoshi shook his head helplessly, he finally understood what it means to be shameless and invincible, and all the samurai present expressed their dissatisfaction with this behavior of the Oda family.

Takigawa Tokatsu frowned tightly, turned his face to Shima Tokatsu and said, "This governor of the Oda family is too much! Isn't it afraid that the master will be very angry for saying such shameless words?"

Shima Tokikatsu spread his hands and said helplessly: "I probably expected that the Lord would not embarrass him even if he gets angry again! Or maybe there is some hole card, but His Royal Highness seems to be very angry."

All the samurai present turned their gazes to Kira Yoshitoki's face.Seeing His Highness Gongfang's face turned blue when he was kicked, he knew that what this Oda Dan Zhengden said was most likely wrong.However, if you don't listen to the ready-made gossip and instead explore whether it is true or false, it is too rigid and boring.As a result, many genealogists also gave up their plans to continue to be held accountable, and carefully observed the changes in the atmosphere in the big room with wide-eyed eyes.

Yoshitoki Kira was really angry, and even had the urge to pick up a folding fan and slap Niwa Nagahide on the face. Of course, he wanted to smack Oda Nobunaga who was far away in the city of Cheongju in the Owari country. This disgusting guy used such a despicable It is abhorrent to use such means to deal with him. It is a waste of time that he has helped the Oda family a lot in the past few years.

Finally resisting the urge to jump up, he cursed secretly in his heart: "What is this Oda Nobunaga doing? He even wrote a letter so sensational that it was disgusting. He also asked his family members to kick him out in front of the public. Come out, this is an intention to make other samurai misunderstand the relationship between Yu and Oda Nobunaga, and take the opportunity to confuse the public to fish in troubled waters! It’s just that this method is too disgusting, making the world think that I, Ji Liangyi, liked him as an old man... Too much Too much!"

In fact, Yoshitoki Kira and Oda Nobunaga are only limited to pen pals, and it is impossible to talk about a deeper friendship. He is willing to maintain this pen pal relationship because he is curious and probing about Oda Nobunaga. Thoughts, if there is no interference from this layer of factors, how can you pay attention to the son of a local tyrant in the Owari country.

Unexpectedly, Oda Nobunaga is so powerful, the speed of climbing along the pole is so fast, he has become a powerful daimyo of Owari Ikuni in just a few years, and his strength has basically returned to the heyday of his father Oda Nobunaga.The only thing that is lacking is continuous victories to remove the title of "Owari weak soldier".

This big hat was one of the rich legacy left to him by his father Owari nobunaga Oda Nobunaga a few years before his death. It not only left Oda Nobunaga a large territory and supporting retainers.There is also the mess of two defeats in the Battle of Kanakou and the two defeats in the Battle of Shodozaka. More than half of the elite warriors of Owari Ichikuni died in these two battles. If the Owari soldiers are not weak, it is really unreasonable.

Contrary to Owari, Echigo samurai's fierce folk customs have long been famous in the Eastern Kingdom and even the world. In the summer more than 50 years ago, Nagao made a surprise attack on his Echigo guard Uesugi Fangono and killed him. During the battle of Nagamorihara in the seventh year of Yongzheng, he beheaded Uesugi Uesuji, the governor of the Kanto region, and then joined the Sagami Hojo clan to go out of Echigo to invade Ueno and attack the Yamauchi Uesugi family. Spread the prestige of Echigo samurai to Kinai, Western countries and even Kyushu.

What Oda Nobunaga admires most is the samurai with a strong army. He used to envy Takeda Shingen, the tiger of Kai, and now he envies the Hokuriku ruler Kirayoshi, who had so many powerful generals and a strong army that blinded many people's eyes. In Oda In Nobunaga's view, Yoshitoki Yoshitoki's achievements today are partly due to his top-notch personal ability and skills, and the other half is due to the support of Echigo's fierce samurai, strong army, and strong economic strength.

For the Oda family, finding an alliance with the Kira family is the best choice without any harm, but the problem is that most of the samurai in the world know that there are many benefits to forming an alliance with the Kira family, but it is still a huge problem for how many of them can finally form an alliance. Question, it is said that in recent years, many samurai families have come to Kasuga Mountain City to request alliances and marriages, and even sent their daughters to Kasuga Mountain City in person, but they were forcibly sent back.

This is the attitude of Kira Yoshitoki. He did not discuss the issue of alliance with the local people. Neither the former Aizu Ashina clan nor today's Kai Takeda clan agreed to any alliance request. He is telling Dongguo with his actions. For the samurai family, what the Kira family needs are obedient retainers, foreign officials, not allies.

Oda Nobunaga knew very well that he might be rejected if he took the usual path. He could not accept failure even once, because a strong sense of crisis urged him to move forward quickly. Since the end of the war, the development of the Oda family has fallen into a serious bottleneck period in the two years.

In the past two years, troops have been sent to attack Meinong country every year, but each time they have lost their troops and returned without success. Especially in the first year of Yonglu, the power of the barrel and Hazama's great victory invaded Meinong twice in August and October. He was easily blocked by Saito Yoshiryu twice and hit with a backhand, and he almost couldn't return to Owari. Last year, he fought a hard battle and returned without success. He made up his mind that he must find a strong ally as a support and containment.

Looking around Owari country, there are very few allies that can be used as allies. Only Echigo's Kira Yoshitoki penetrated his power into Vietnam, and Minami Shinano may then invade Hida country, and the family business interests are all in Dongguo. The best ally template, not to mention the fact that he has had several previous cooperative relationships with the Oda family, which prompted him to finally make the decision to go all out and marry Yoshitoki Kira.

Namioka Tanbo didn't get mad because of the poor performance of the Oda family's envoy, he had already realized that his lord was not really angry, maybe he just hated being used by such a disgusting little trick, and he didn't really hate the potential of the Oda family. Allies, if he is really angry, he will probably reprimand or simply walk away.

He also found that Sanada Yutaka, who had just returned from the Shinano front line to report his work, was not angry, but looked at Niwa Chohide's performance with great interest, and then he understood. He coughed lightly and turned sideways to ask Niwa Chohide softly: " I don't know which daughter of the Oda family is planning to marry His Royal Highness?"

Niwa Changhide quietly glanced at the samurai in the hall, making sure that they had no clear objection, and then said loudly: "It is His Royal Highness Princess Oshi of my Oda family."

"Then this Princess Ashi is the direct sister of the main hall of Oda Dan?"

"This..." Niwa Nagahide said in embarrassment: "It's my lord's concubine sister, but my lord loves Princess Ashi very much, and always treats her like a sister."

Ben Duoshi sneered and said, "Wouldn't you like to marry into my Kami-Ashikaga family even if you're not a daughter-in-law? Oda Danshoden is really confident!"

Many samurai in the Dahiro room then laughed at the Oda family's overreach, as if they took this remark as a joke, maybe it was a slightly sarcastic remark that angered the Oda family's samurai, Sasao Naruma said angrily: "Your Highness Honda is wrong to say that! Among the wives of Lord Zhenfu, there are the adopted daughter of the Imagawa family and the daughter of the Mochizuki family..."

Nagano Yezheng stood up suddenly and yelled loudly: "Shut up! His Royal Highness's family affairs are something you, a humble samurai in the countryside of Owari, can talk about!" (To be continued...)