Pillars of the Wu family

The end of the Middle Ages was an era of feudal ignorance. People respected ghosts, gods, ancestors, spirits, mountains, rivers, everything, and everything. In the oriental social system, there was a complex social system. At the beginning, the Japanese classical era was a typical imitation of the law system of the Tang Dynasty. The only difference was that the imperial court lacked * * The strength of the dictatorship.

Not to mention that Ezo, who is running everywhere in the Eastern Kingdom, is difficult to deal with. As a new conqueror, he will exhaust all the power of the imperial court to balance the mountains in the East China Sea in the Western Kingdom. The Emperor is only the leader of the noble group in name, more like a king leading the nobles than The emperor of China has absolute control over the territory of his ministers.

From the Asuka era to the Nara era, the legal system stumbled to the era of the Sekiseki government where powerful officials emerged. In the Heian era, the Fujiwara family once dominated the imperial court for hundreds of years, relying on conspiracy and tricks to eliminate political enemies and control the emperor. This nominal "king" has been reduced. The scepter on the throne, the marionette that acts as a façade when the ministers hold meetings.

Yuanzheng is the resistance of strongman politics to the suppression of Guanbai Regency for hundreds of years. In just 200 years, several powerful emperors and emperors emerged, which caused heavy damage to the relatively stable political system of the imperial court and destroyed the ecological circle on which they depended for survival. As a result, both parties were wounded, leading to the rise of the samurai who acted as thugs.

In the early days of samurai society, it was the Minamoto and Heping families, or it could be concentrated on the pillars of the two families, Minamoto Keiki and Hira Sadamori. The two families were both eagle and dog minions driven by the emperor's white gate, and they did some dirty things that decent nobles would not do. Tired of work, living a life like a dog in the Shang Dynasty, which is not as good as a dog in the Xia Dynasty.

They long to be respected, understood, and loved, but they can only reap endless ridicule and insult. The warriors who claim to be of royal blood gradually become insensitive and distorted, and the violent law enforcement officers who hunt and kill bandits all the year round in the countryside gradually develop a rebellious heart.Therefore, there is a knot of grievances between Genpei Kiyomori and Yuan Yichao in the Genpei era.Minamoto Yoritomo Kaiichi shogunate successor Hojo Masako instigated the Johisa Rebellion to establish a new political system.Samurai shogunate.

In the beginning, warriors did not know what loyalty was. The warriors with swords from all over the world consciously united with the noblest and most powerful warriors. This was not caused by illusory loyalty, but the animal instinct hidden in the body for thousands of years. The invisible line that has continued in the process of evolution from the clan tribal system to the feudal manor system, the strong attached to the tribe protects their own interests and obtains more benefits, it is as simple as that.

Not understanding loyalty and lack of system means that warriors can unscrupulously exude the evil side of human nature.Greedy, vicious, ruthless, and unscrupulous in order to achieve the goal, such as father and son enmity, brothers fighting against each other, husband and wife turning against each other, mother and son turning against each other, monarch and minister rivalry, and so on. On Tracks.

With the advent of the Muromachi era, the samurai society has increasingly highlighted the direction of diversified development. The splendid traditional culture of Kyoto has had a great impact on the new samurai society. Compared with the puppet Kamakura shogunate, the Muromachi shogunate in Kyoto has A more mature and developed ruling system, the splendor of the Ashikaga Yoshimitsu era is unforgettable, but all this has nothing to do with Kanto.

The shortcomings of the system have led to the era background in which the shogunate government in Kyoto and the Kanto government in Kamakura coexist side by side. The Kamakura era that has just passed has left too much spiritual wealth to the Kanto samurai.They have a glorious history and outstanding achievements. They are eager to recreate the glory of Kamakura and have been beaten in the face of the Eternal Rebellion.The 130-year-old beating has left such painful memories for the Kanto warriors that they dare not do or say many things.

The precedent of the Kamakura government's competition for the general who conquered the barbarians is still in my ears. The three generations of the Ashikaga Clan, Ashikaga Clan, and the Ashikaga Clan have all failed. It triggered the strong resistance of the Kanto samurai to the shogunate, and at the same time deeply shocked the hearts of the Kanto samurai. Such a strong force could not defeat the shogunate, and there was probably no hope.

This is not the idea of ​​a few samurai, but generally exists in the minds of all classes in Kanto. It can be called empiricism. They have a high sense of cognition derived from the experience they have felt, and after hundreds of years of induction and deduction. It's like when there were no laws in the early days of the Kamakura period, ancient rules and principles were often used to judge and punish.

This can also be called the anchoring effect. When the samurai make judgments about major events that affect the process of the Kanto transition, they always involuntarily think of the tragic experience more than a hundred years ago, and they are easily overwhelmed by the first impression of being hit. Dominion is like an anchor that sinks to the bottom of the sea and fixes the samurai's mind somewhere.

Every time I think of Ashikaga Yoshitoki's ambitions, I can't help but put my thinking into the Eongyo Rebellion more than 120 years ago. Countless samurai elites died tragically under the butcher knife of the shogunate crusade army, and the bloody heads piled up on the streets of Kanto On both sides, the children lost their fathers, the wives lost their husbands, countless families collapsed, and many samurai families died out.

This deep-rooted idea haunts the minds of every Kanto warrior like a nightmare. The scars are so painful that people have the mentality of being bitten by a snake for ten years and being afraid of well ropes. I made a warning in my heart and subconsciously avoided it, so even though Ashikaga Yoshiki did not clearly state that this is a taboo topic these years, the Kanto warriors consciously sealed this topic in the back of their minds and dared not touch it.

The false image was exposed. The warriors realized that they had an ostrich mentality, embarrassment, fear and fear. The Oshu daimyo Date Teruzong of Oyushu didn't have such thoughts. His eyes flashed and he asked: "So His Royal Highness Gongfang really has the ambition to stabilize the world, but isn’t this about defeating the superior?”

The Beibata Fangfang seemed to have expected it, looked at it with a half-smile, and then smiled: "No! The so-called subjugates the superior, but the lord is in power, but the sycophant usurps the power. This is also the subordination! But I would like to be one of the shogun's royal highnesses, a paper imperial teacher, and not dare to act rashly for several years, this kind of loyalty can be set as an example for the warriors, and it is definitely not comparable to the sycophants of the chaotic country!"

"One hundred years of turmoil in the world started in Kyoto, and now the crisis of the shogunate also started in Kyoto. Since the turmoil in Kyoto, the Miyoshi family has tried to abolish the establishment several times. May I ask what has to do with me in the Kanto Ashikaga family? How can the law of heaven allow Xiaoxiao to do so?" If His Royal Highness intends to usurp the throne, why should he stay in the Kanto region for many years and dare not act rashly? Have you forgotten that His Royal Highness the Shogun’s royal teaching book preceded the commotion in Kyoto!"

Hojo Shizheng clenched his fists more excitedly than anyone else.His family is not pure Kanto warriors.During the Eternal Rebellion, the ancestor was still serving as an official in the shogunate. The so-called ostrich mentality has nothing to do with him. All he thought was to revive his ancestral business and restore the prestige of the Hojo clan. Then work hard to do the duty of being a powerful family elder, and strive to get more rewards and improve your status.

Every samurai has a different idea, and each samurai has a different family origin, interest orientation, and even the family governor's preferences and judgments.There are loyal and ambitious ones such as Hojo Tokimasa and Satake Yoshishige, there are also those who have been transferred to Mutsu and discouraged Utsunomiya Hirozuna, Nasu Ziyin, and many small country lords who are purely soy sauce mentality.

Ashikaga Yoshitoki did not think about forcing everyone, everyone has their own hobbies and what they need, the general trend of the world is like a torrent of unrivaled power rushing forward, many warriors deep in this wave There is not much room for choice, either follow the trend to accept the baptism of the waves, or go against the trend and resist the beating of the waves. The former may not be able to jump the dragon's gate, but the latter will definitely end up dead without a place to die.

Everyone's situation is different.You can't force each other to get the predestined relationship. No one will try to persuade stubborn people how to live a better life.The ups and downs of encounters all depend on one's own understanding and good luck. Ashikaga Yoshitoki often said a word: "Those who can't keep up with the times will eventually be abandoned by the times."

The entanglement of the Kanto samurai is indifferent. These new senators together have less than half of the voting rights at most, and they are torn apart by Ashikaga Yoshitoki's cloud-turning methods. The big head follows him from Echigo and even Kyoto and Mikawa. At present, it seems that they are all very supportive of the attitude of competing for the world.

But there are always exceptions. Hosokawa Fujitaka, who was born in the shogunate, is not very happy. Although he has followed Ashikaga Yoshitoki for more than ten years, he still has the loyal blood of the Kyoto samurai in his bones. The general public, his uncle and adoptive father Moto Hosokawa was over seventy years old, but still died for the loyalty of the shogunate, he is not willing to see violent turmoil in the Ashikaga family.

Hosokawa Fujitaka tried his best to say: "His Royal Highness, there must be a way to rescue His Highness the General! After all, His Highness the General is kind to my Ashikaga family in Kanto, as long as His Royal Highness sends troops from Sakamoto to Kyoto and then destroys the disobedient disciples, and then kisses you again." To raise a large army into Luozhen to calm the evils and sweep the world, I think His Highness the General can understand His Highness Gongfang's difficulties!"

For a long time, Ben was dissatisfied and said: "Why did the Hosokawa military department make such a statement? Not to mention that the changes in Jinai have little to do with His Royal Highness, and His Highness the General's behavior is beyond His Royal Highness's control. Only the soldiers in a corner of Sakamoto With few generals surrounded by enemies, defending Chengdu is very difficult, and it is even more difficult to forge ahead. Not to mention that the channel to fight in Jingluo has been blocked.

Entering Beijing and losing Sakamoto, the morale of the army is shaken, and then they are defeated, losing both human resources and wealth?As for the absurd conclusion of bringing the army into Luoyang, don't mention it!His Royal Highness the General’s imperial teaching book is still there, and it is against the edict to go to Luoyang under any banner. Could it be that the Palace of the Ministry of War wants to trap His Royal Highness Gongfang in an inhumane way? "

Hosokawa Fujitaka clearly knew that it was completely wrong to say this, but out of loyalty he still forcibly defended himself: "But if His Highness the General loses his position, won't His Highness the Duke's reputation be damaged?"

"How could it be damaged? His Royal Highness was ordered to stand still and let hundreds of thousands of tigers, beasts, eagles and running dogs go hunting around. He would rather put swords and guns in Kuma and release Nanshan than move. Why would his reputation be damaged? Why? Is this also a reputation loss? Forcibly violating the edict and going to Luo to seek rebellion, and then being punished by the general's palace and shutting down and confinement to become a monk, is it called the name of complete loyalty? Don't you see why Minamoto Yoshitsune died? How can you have such pedantic thoughts? Can it be called a warrior family?" Ben flicked his sleeves for a long time, turning his face away from him in disgust.

Hosokawa Fujitaka lowered his head in frustration, and lamented: "I, Fujitaka, also know that this is not an option for my Kanto Ashikaga family, but His Royal Highness the General has been kind to us! From the Kira family, to the Kamiso Ashikaga family, and then to the Kanto Ashikaga family. , step by step would not be possible without the full support of His Highness the General, even if His Highness the General has changed his mind over the years, he is still the benefactor of my Kanto Ashikaga family! Letting His Highness the General be in danger is really a breach of the loyalty of a minister."

When the situation is reversed and the cost is changed for a long time, Shi is speechless. Loyalty and kindness are always the threshold that cannot be bypassed. Ashikaga Yoshiki has great kindness to Ashikaga Yoshiki.This is a difficult point that cannot be avoided in any case.Without Ashikaga Yoshiki, there would be no Ashikaga Yoshiki today.Even if he claims to have repaid all his kindness, it will not change the world's stubborn view of this judgment.

The kindness given by Ashikaga Yoshiki is fame, and the power of fame is sometimes worthless to samurai who were born as local tyrants. , and other special circumstances will bring extraordinary influence.

If he hadn't been recognized by Ashikaga Yoshiki at the beginning, but just changed the character Miao to Ashikaga without authorization, then the gold content of his Kanto Ashikaga family would have declined by [-]% to [-]%, as long as the shogun Ichikami did not recognize his claim.Then point him at the enemy or issue a crusade order, and there will be a lot of ambitious people jumping out from every corner to instigate a rebellion.

These ambitious people may come from among the dozens of warriors present, maybe some or maybe most of them. In short, they caused great turmoil and caused great turmoil in the family, forcing him to spend a lot of time on internal fire fighting After wasting ten or eight years and then there is an accident in the middle, maybe the future of the Kamisukashi family will become.

The power of fame is so wonderful, just like the three artifacts are meaningless in the hands of an old man, a child, or a samurai, the best choice is nothing more than going to Beijing to present to the Heavenly Royal.Then get an insignificant reward for the five subordinates, they can't be the emperor with the three artifacts.Not to mention ordering all the officials and ministers to obey him, because the three artifacts are nothing if they leave the royal family.

Therefore, the Akamatsu family, whose clan was exterminated during the Cargill Rebellion, created a remnant party of the Akamatsu family who voluntarily joined the remaining Southern Dynasty, sneaked into the Yoshino Palace, stole the three artifacts of the Southern Dynasty from the false emperor's palace, and escaped to return them to the Northern Dynasty in Kyoto. The emperor, because of this achievement, the shogunate approved the revival of Harima Akamatsu's family.

Another example is that there are only three white flags of Genji, one for Hachiman Taro Minamoto's family, one for Yoshitomo Minamoto, and one for Chiin Ashikaga Takaji. These three sides are four-meter-tall big flag seals, and the rest are white flags awarded to the warriors of various families. None of them are Genji white flags. Many samurai use a white silk several feet long to write "Nanmo Hachiman Bodhisattva" on it. It can only be called the white Hachiman Bodhisattva flag. It can be called the white flag for short, but it does not have any appeal and influence. At most, it looks good and highlights a strong sense of justice.

In the same way, any dynasty can be substituted. Not everyone who flies the Tudor rose flag is the royal family of England. Not everyone whose surname is Zhu can enjoy the treatment of the son of the dragon and the grandson of the dragon. No matter how big the name is given to him without the support of blood It's useless, fakes can't be real after all, no matter how famous you are without a reputation, it won't work after all, at least until the Muromachi Shogunate is not destroyed, this iron law still exists.

The title pressure given by the general is extremely weak for ordinary samurai, but it is very strong for the promotion of Kanto Gong Fang Ashikaga Yoshitoki, who has been promoted to his descendants. Or the reward of guardianship, the effect will immediately drop several levels.

No amount of money, food or land would be so precious to him as a righteous title to compete for the world. Ashikaga Yoshiki is very clear about this. The reason why he dared to give this title despite knowing this is because of the imperial education book restriction activities The magic weapon of scope, gives you a name and restricts your behavior, and if you violate it without authorization, you have a reason to cut you.

If Ashikaga Yoshitoki was a thick-skinned samurai with black means, maybe he would not be afraid of Ashikaga Yoshiki's small tricks, but not Ashikaga Yoshitoki, this samurai who is morally obsessed and unwilling to usurp the throne must bow his head and admit this trick No one would be foolish enough to believe that he would abide by this imperial teaching book forever, just like Ashikaga Yoshiki could not be a Taiping general safely in the crisis-ridden Kyoto.

The shogun has no heir in his middle age. Sooner or later he will face the pressure of raising an heir and there is not much time left for him. Even if there is no crisis in Kyoto, he must face the urging of his officials. The age of 30 is already the health warning line for many middle-aged generals. An heirless shogun must establish a political heir as an adopted son when his position is relatively safe. As long as he becomes a shogun, heirs will no longer be simply a matter of subjugation and superiority. This issue of heirs within the Ashikaga family is not qualified for discussion by the entire family of the Ashikaga family. nothing.

The atmosphere in the hall was stagnant, and the important officials of the genealogy looked up at the expression of Ashikaga Yoshitoki nervously. If you think about it carefully, you will always find the embarrassing position of the Kanto Ashikaga family. False, the status of being a courtier can never be quietly erased by cutting off the head and tail.

You can't really think that the Kwantung General's Mansion is the shogunate of General Zhengyi.In fact, it was just talking about a dry addiction.Just like when Ashikaga used to like to call himself the Ashikaga family, it was one thing.Even if the shogunate knows about the small violation, it can’t do anything to him. Anyway, what you can’t get is always the best. This kind of innocuous claim will not change the status of the Kwantung government as inferior to the shogun. There is still a gap between the two. An invisible ceiling.

Ashikaga Yoshitoki clapped his palms and sighed: "Teng Takashi's words made people wake up, it's really my Xuancheng!"

"Your Majesty Gongfang's absurd praise, Fujitaka really dare not compare himself to Duke Wei Wenzhen." Hosokawa Fujitaka dare not compare himself to Wei Zheng, comparing himself to Wei Zheng is tantamount to comparing himself to Li Shimin when Ashikaga Yoshimi, the Lord's casual sentence does not necessarily have a deeper meaning.But as a courtier, you must not pretend to be stupid. Next, it is rumored that no one in the outside world will praise Ashikaga Yoshimi without saying a word, but will only scold Hosokawa Takaguchi for reputation as a loyal minister.

Ashikaga Yoshitoki didn't think about the narrow-mindedness at all, and after boasting, he went on to say: "What Fujitaka said is true! If Yu Ruo didn't know that the crisis in Kyoto was coming, it was not the minister's doing that he knew the danger but didn't remind him. So Yu sent an envoy to inform His Royal Highness the General as early as last month.

Yu said in the letter that there have been frequent turmoil in Kyoto recently, and this chaos is actually a warning sign of rampant evil spirits. Therefore, Kyoto is no longer the place where His Royal Highness the General lives for a long time, so he asked His Royal Highness Higashikari Sakamoto to take a vacation for recuperation.It is not too late to go back to Luo's right after the time changes.

In addition, Yu also took an extra layer of defense.In order to prevent the letter paper from being intercepted and obstructed, this letter was specially made into three copies, and sent to the Nijo Imperial Palace, Konoe Guanbai Mansion, and Jiaowang Huguo Temple respectively, and asked the servants who signed the letter paper to make the following records, so as not to prevent anyone in the future Accused Yu of failing to fulfill his duties as a courtier. "

Satake Yoshihime smacked his lips, looked up and saw that the officials in the hall were either wandering, or bowed their heads in deep thought, and after thinking about it, he decided to swallow the words that came to his lips. He instinctively felt that jumping out and saying that the lord was narrow-minded and hypocritical seemed to be There is a huge and unpredictable danger, and he muttered in a low voice: "I don't want to go to Sado Island..."

"Huh? You can tell me what Yoshishige thinks." Ashikaga Yoshitoki looked sideways.

"Ah! Your servant thinks His Majesty's precautions are very good. Now that my Kanto Ashikaga family is in a sensitive and delicate position, His Majesty's words and deeds will be paid special attention. At this time, the chaotic scene in Kyoto needs special attention." The method solves the embarrassing situation of the dilemma, so...the ministers think it is very good! Hmm! Very good!" Yoshishige Satake clenched his fists, expressing his full support.

It wasn't until Ashikaga Yoshitoki withdrew his staring eyes with a satisfied smile that he realized that the back of his clothes had been soaked with sweat. Satake Yoshishige covered his forehead and quietly wiped off the sweat. , The eyes just now are not murderous, but they are more scary than Tai Dao resting on the neck, I almost thought I stopped panting! This is really not a place where people can stay, and if you come again a few times, you will definitely get sick?"

It was only a brief episode that Satake Yoshishige almost succeeded in tricking himself to death. Few people even noticed that he was quietly walking in front of the gate of hell just now. The important ministers turned their attention to Hosokawa Fujitaka, and he let out a long breath and said: "This is the best way. This method can put an end to the criticism of my Kanto Ashikaga family by the world, and future generations will not make irresponsible remarks on His Highness Gongfang! Waiting for the actions of Chiinden to be taken as a warning, especially for An ambitious warrior like His Highness Gongfang has a great reference value."

Tapping on the table attracted the attention of the important minister of the family, Ashikaga Yoshitoki coughed and said: "Besides, I also arranged for Kamizumi Isemori to hide in the Nijo Imperial Palace with a few swordsmen, so that you can use it at a critical moment. To protect the safety of His Majesty the Shogun, the warriors in Kyoto are generally weak in martial arts, and cannot serve as the personal guards of His Majesty the Shogun. With Kamizumi Ise guarding him, he can always deal with ordinary crises. I believe that there will be no bigger troubles in Kyoto. Danger?"

Hosokawa Fujitaka said with a smile: "His Royal Highness said it is very true! It is not possible to do anything to His Royal Highness? The half-general did not dare to do this, and the group of foreign ministers from Miyoshi's family must have no reason! Unless They're crazy!"

"Haha... yeah! Unless they're crazy!"

The relaxed Mudai ministers laughed loudly, only Ashikaga Yoshitoki held a bat fan and laughed without saying a word. When he looked up to the sky and found that the moon was already in the sky outside the window, he sighed faintly: "They are indeed crazy!" (To be continued..)