The purpose of this diplomatic mission was to swear loyalty to the great general Ashikaga Yoshiki and ask for permission to go to Luoyang. When the Imagawa family prepared to go to Luoyang later, they could issue the Ashikaga General's order as a pretext for sending troops.
Yu Qiupei remembered that in the history of his previous life, Imagawa Yoshimoto did not ask for permission from Ashikaga Yoshiteru in advance, so that Ashikaga Yoshiteru was very wary of Imagawa Yoshimoto's rash move to Luo - because the Imagawa family, as a branch of the Ashikaga family, can also
Forced to inherit the general's family.
But this time, Yu Qiuping didn't know if it was because he had some invisible influence on Imagawa Yoshimoto that made him make the decision to apply in advance.
Along the way, Sena Ujitoshi also needs to pay attention to the recent actions of the Owari Oda, Mino Saito, Kitaomi Asai and Minamiomi Rokkaku families - if necessary, he can visit these families as secret envoys to seek cooperation on behalf of the family.
It can be said that Sena Ujitoshi has great power this time. Even for the details of the cooperation, Imagawa Yoshimoto did not make too many demands on him, but let him weigh it himself. It can be seen that Imagawa Yoshimoto is serious.
I trust Senaji Jun very much.
If Imagawa Yoshimoto really wants to go to Luo from Shunen Sansangoku, the route he will pass will be: Owari - Mino - Omi - Yamashiro. Along the way, the main targets of diplomacy will be these countries.
Owari Oda has been fighting endlessly with the Imagawa family for many years. They can be regarded as mortal enemies, and there is basically no room for negotiation.
The Saito family of Mino was originally an alliance with the Oda family during the Oda Nobhide era. Oda Nobunaga became the head of the Mino Saito family, and the famous thief, Saito Saito, the daughter of Dozo Saito, got married.
.
However, civil strife broke out in the Saito family later. Saito Yoshiryu, the son of Saito Douzan, completed the same challenge as his father, killed his father Saito Douzan in the Battle of Nagara River, and succeeded in usurping the throne. Support Saito Douzan
As a result, Oda Nobunaga had an enmity with Saito Yoshiryu. Rumor has it that Saito Douzan even wrote a "Statement of Relinquishment" before his death, and gave the Mino Country to Oda Nobunaga as a dowry for returning to the butterfly.
Owari and Mino, collectively known as the Noo Plains, are one of Japan's top grain-producing bases. They also have a large population and developed commerce. It can be said to be a fertile area as famous as the Kinki region. Oda Nobunaga in his previous life was
Relying on Owari and Mino to conquer Kinki, the Imagawa family is bound to win these two countries. Even if they want to form an alliance with the Saito family to jointly deal with the Oda family, it is probably only a temporary measure.
But there is much to be done for the Rokkaku family and the Asai family in the north and south of Omi. The Asai family and the Rokkaku family have been enemies of each other for many years and have been fighting constantly. During the reign of the British lord Rokkaku Sadayori, the Rokkaku family relied on the rich Minami Omi and Koka ninjas to move northward.
He forced the Asai family to surrender, extended his influence to Ise to the south, and fought against the Miyoshi family who controlled Nishi Kinki to the west, and supported the current general Ashikaga Yoshiteru to succeed him. He also built the huge city Kannonji Castle in his territory.
The "Castle Separation" order was issued, forcing the large and small lords of Minami Omi, who had many wealthy families, to demolish their residences and gather them all in Kannonji Castle, which greatly strengthened the centralization of power.
However, after Rokkaku Sadayori died of illness, the successor Rokkaku Yoshihide did not have the talent and strategy of his father, and the Asai family began to become restless again. Although the head Hisama Asai did not have a strong desire to resist, there were many retainers.
Be less dissatisfied with the status quo.
If the Imagawa family can make good use of the contradiction between the two and win over one of them, they can get twice the result with half the effort.
As the current Ashikaga shogun, the Kinki power that he most relies on is the Rokkaku family. In order to prevent the loss of power after Kamikawa, Imagawa Yoshimoto privately hinted to Sena Ujitoshi that it would be best to cooperate with the Asai family to restrict the power of the Rokkaku family.
The real enemy of the Imagawa family is the Miyoshi family, which controls Awaji, Awa, Sanuki, part of Settsu, part of Kii, Kawachi, Izumi, part of Iga, Yamashiro, Yamato, nearly ten countries, and controls the power of Kyoto. In
Under the leadership of Lord Miyoshi Nagakei, the Miyoshi family was at its peak. The Miyoshi and four brothers were all talented, and no one in Kinki could challenge their power.
Therefore, although the trip to Luoyang this time can be done openly, because the Miyoshi family will not prevent the various daimyo from meeting the shogun and the emperor, the request to go to Luoyang must be made in private.
Ame Qiupei was asked to set out on June 17, so he went back to the territory to arrange tasks. This time, he will take Amano Keitoku, Sanada Masayuki, and Honda Nabenosuke as deputies to follow Senaji Toshide
The envoy Sena Ujitoshi will set off with a total of thirty people, pretending to be a caravan and pass through the hostile Owari.
Yu Qiupei asked Naoe Tadayei to act as the governor of the family in his absence - this was an incredible gift and trust that everyone envied. The training of the troops still had to be carried out in an orderly manner, with the five Ashigaru generals in charge.
Najiri was in charge of various matters in the territory, while Hanamaru and the other four blacksmiths were fulfilled by Amekihei himself and given the position of ashigaru head. They were transformed from craftsmen to samurai and supervised everyone's production as the head of the entire craftsmen.
As for the army's evening Chinese education, Naoe Tadayei is also in charge. The old subordinates have basically mastered it a lot, and the new recruits have to start all over again.
Before leaving, Yu Qiuping came to the cabin again. Many of the paper red leaves on the grass in the maple forest were blown away by the wind, but there were still many left. This mission was not a secret mission, and Imagawa Kaede must have known about it.
If she wanted to see her off, she would definitely come to this cabin.
However, Kaede Imagawa, who was always late, was waiting early in the cabin this time. When he saw Kaede Imagawa actually coming to see him off, Yu Qiuping suddenly felt a warmth in his heart.
However, when the two met, they could not hide the awkwardness in the atmosphere. They obviously had a thousand things to say, but they didn't know how to say them.
After a while, Imagawa Kaede asked: "Is this mission... dangerous?"
"It's okay." Yu Qiuping shook his head, trying to reassure the girl, but unexpectedly it had the opposite effect. The worry in Imagawa Feng's brows turned into anger in the blink of an eye.
"I have to go through the Owari of the Oda family and go to Kinki controlled by the Miyoshi family. Can it be considered okay?" Imagawa Kaede asked in a deep voice.
"It's okay, Princess, please rest assured." Yu Qiuping tried his best to squeeze out a smile, trying to lighten the atmosphere and make the girl not angry. Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the girl silently shook her head, and her face showed another
Very disappointed expression.
After a long time, she sighed and whispered: "Is it okay? We have been separated for so long, and you still don't understand why I am so angry. If you think it is okay, then it will be okay. Anyway, you always say it's okay in front of me.
." After saying that, she stood up and prepared to leave.
Yu Qiuping was stunned for a moment, and her heart sank. It had been how many days since she had said a word to herself. She always had this disappointed tone. He was unwilling to let go of his once beautiful lover, even like the original one.
Like a friend, the chance to have a good word is gone.
He suddenly took a step forward and stopped Imagawa Kaede.
"General Yuqiu, what's wrong?" Imagawa Feng's eyes trembled and he tried to keep his voice calm as he whispered.
General, General... Yu Qiu General. This harsh and cold name made Yu Qiuping's sorrow surge in like a tide.
"...Your Highness Princess..." Yu Qiuping's Adam's apple squirmed violently, and he begged in an almost humble tone.
"Can you call me flat again..."
Imagawa Kaede looked at her nose and tears were already welling up in her eyes. But she turned her head away and did not let Yu Qiuping see the tears in her eyes. Instead, she tried hard to suppress her emotions and said coldly: "You haven't done anything until now.
I don’t understand, I don’t understand what I want.”
Imagawa Kaede raised her hand, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and said softly.
"We no longer have that kind of relationship."
As soon as the words came out of her mouth, her heart ached violently. She didn't dare to look back, didn't dare to look back at Yu Qiuping's sad expression, because she was afraid that she would not be able to bear it, rush to hug him, and call him "Ping" over and over again.
She strode away, stepping on the red leaves on the ground, trying to suppress the pain in her heart with actions, but the tears still flowed down.
The boy was left alone, standing silently in the wooden house. He finally failed to say "Feng'er".
Will she never call me "Ping" again in this life?
When she called me "Ping" before, why didn't I cherish it...
Yu Qiuping, do you regret it? Do you regret your choice?
You can't ruin her life? Can't you?
If you want to be worthy of her, then become stronger! You are already a general, and if you perform meritorious service, you will become the city lord and the elder of the family. You will be worthy of her! You will definitely make it in time!
Yu Qiuping wiped away her tears, held the red leaf pendant on her chest tightly, and walked out of the wooden house. The green leaves in the maple forest had gotten rid of their previous sluggishness and began to grow vigorously.
On June 17, the second year of Eiroku (1559), Sena Ujitoshi led a delegation of thirty-seven people to leave Sunfu. The outfit for the caravan was prepared by Sekiguchi Ujihiro in Mikawa. In the Imagawa family territory, the group of people
Riding horse and galloping, we arrived at Okazaki Castle in three days.
On the evening of June 20, a group of people entered the city from the east gate of Okazaki Castle. Matsudaira Motoyasu still led all the retainers to kneel outside the east gate to greet them. Sena Ujitoshi did not need Amakihei's advice this time, and stayed far away.
He ordered everyone to dismount as a sign of respect. Matsudaira Motoyasu, who was extremely grateful, personally held the reins for Sena Ujitoshi.
After entering the city, Sena Ujitoshi went to the castle tower to meet Sekiguchi Ujihiro, while Amakihei took Honda Nabenosuke to meet Matsudaira Motoyasu.
"Nanosuke, you have grown taller again." Seeing Honda Nanosuke's appearance, Matsudaira Motoyasu had mixed feelings, "I haven't seen you for a year, and you are already a brave samurai!"
"Nanosuke is amazing!" Yu Qiuping patted the taciturn Honda Nanosuke and praised him, "When we were besieged by the enemy in Imamiya Castle, it was all thanks to Nanosuke's bravery to kill him continuously.
It took several people on the other side to save us from danger!"
"Nanosuke is already so great!" Matsudaira Motoyasu exclaimed, "If you work hard, you will definitely become as great a samurai as your father!"
"Your Highness, please rest assured." Honda Nanosuke, who had been silent until now, was somewhat moved when he heard Matsudaira Motoyasu mentioned his father. He raised his hands and saluted, "I will practice martial arts diligently and become a great samurai when I return."
The Matsudaira family!”
Matsudaira Motoyasu praised Honda Nanosuke, but in his heart he was worried whether Yu Qiuping would be unhappy. After all, when he entrusted Honda Nanosuke to Yu Qiuping, he was actually planning to let Nabesuke go to Yu Qiuping's house.
Meaning. Yu Qiuping cares deeply about Nanosuke, but Nanosuke still misses his old master so much...
Matsudaira Motoyasu secretly took a look at Ame Qiupei's face, and found that the latter's face was filled with a joyful smile, and he was very happy for Nanosuke. Matsudaira Motoyasu felt ashamed in his heart: You really shouldn't judge a gentleman with a villain's heart.
"Hey, Nanosuke, why don't you smile?" Yu Qiuping teased, "I've been keeping a straight face all day, and I've never seen you smile! I saw you were so excited just now, and I thought I could see you smiling.
!”
"Ujitoshi, long time no see!" Ujihiro Sekiguchi saw Sena Ujitoshi and greeted him with a smile.
"Uhihiro, I met you not long ago." Sena Shitoshi said with a smile, "How are you, how are you enjoying getting along with your son-in-law riding a dragon these days?"
"My son-in-law who rides the dragon is the adopted daughter of the family governor's palace." Hiroshi Sekiguchi waved his hands repeatedly, "But that kid Takechiyo is really good-tempered. I used to be rude in every possible way, but he still treated me with courtesy.
To be continued...