The biting cold wind of late winter blew from Yatsugatake into the Kofu Plain, and the heavy snow that had been raging for half a month finally stopped last night. The surrounding area of Kai Yuzakikan was heavily guarded, and people walked out of their houses to start a new day's work at dawn.
The warriors coming and going were all absent-minded and frowning.
Takenouchi and Gozaemon stood in the shed in a daze, rubbing their red hands. Next to him was a fire that was about to go out. It was the remnant of a bonfire left by the previous post. His mission was to keep an eye on Shinano.
Except for a few of the legitimate sons and hostages sent by the people from the country and the hostages sent by the people of Shinano, who were introduced as direct samurai, most of them were put under house arrest in the small courtyard of the Uzaki Hall. There were several courtyards like this, and the prisoners were held in them.
They are all these people.
After Takeda Harunobu returned to Kai, he ordered the entire territory to be under martial law. Civilians were recruited to rebuild the stone walls that had not been completed a few years ago. In the winter, thousands of farmers braved the wind and snow to repair the city. Within a few days, the civilians suffered from widespread frostbite.
The followers who were supervising the siege were also complaining, but the orders of the family governor had to be carried out. Everyone knew that they must not hit the gun at this time. There was a lot of resentment in the Takeda family. Anyone who dared to hit them would die.
.
"I wonder if Gaobai Zhaidian can survive this winter!"
"I think it's difficult. I heard that the arrow sores are very festering. I don't know what kind of arrows the Kira family uses. As long as one is hit by an arrow, it is guaranteed to be fatal. Many samurai have died in Kofu these days because of this.
reason."
Takenouchi and Gozaemon couldn't help but remind: "Keep your voice down, don't you want to live?"
His colleague, Kawamura Shimojie, waved his hand nonchalantly: "Hey! What are you afraid of, Yuwu? Look at where else people are coming on this street. Who doesn't know our situation now? My lord and Ji
I ran to Yuya Hot Spring to recuperate. I didn’t care about anything within my realm. The young master and the Toniya Palace were still in the hands of the Kira family. The entire territory of Northern Shinano was taken away, and even Saku County was also lost. You didn’t
Did you hear that? A few days ago, the Echigo army crossed the Shinshu Pass to attack Kai!"
Iwashita Satorokuro came over and said, "I've heard it too. It's said that two thousand elites came and killed them one by one. Fortunately, our Kai warriors were united enough. Seven or eight thousand people from more than a dozen villages gathered together and killed the Echigo army.
I'm scared to go back! But from my perspective, this day will definitely be even more difficult next year!"
"That's right! Our army is gone. The samurai are dead and disabled. How can we resist the arrogant Echigo Army in the coming year!" Ariga Sadeibei smacked his lips and said, "I think it's really going to be difficult for us.
.”
Seven or eight samurai stood at the door chatting. They were middle and low-level samurai of the Takeda family. Apart from going out in battle, they were usually important in the garrison and had nothing to do. The only thing that made people uncomfortable was the night watch that rotated every ten days.
The night watch on a cold day will be miserable. Not to mention the civilians who suffered from freezing, even some of them, the warriors, had their fingers cut off and their ears damaged by the frost.
There was a noise in the distance, vaguely like shouting. Gradually, they saw the light of fire, and several warriors immediately came back to their senses. They shouted: "We are in trouble! Go put out the fire quickly!"
The fire started at several grain storage points in the castle town of Tsuguzakidate. There was a small keep in the castle to store grain. Residents outside the castle also had to buy grain from the grain houses. The grain merchants in Kai relied on their status as the royal merchants of the Takeda family.
The huge profit-making business of hoarding is simply because he has been very good at being a good person over the years, and the policemen who are guarding the city have received a lot of benefits, so the samurai in the city are happy to help him.
Takenouchi and Gozaemon looked around for a long time and exclaimed: "Oops! It seems that the fire started at the grain storage point of the Yamanashiya Ichibei family, the largest grain merchant in the town. Let's go help quickly! Let his grain house be destroyed.
If it burns down, the townspeople will starve!"
"But our duty is to keep an eye on these hostages..." Iwashita Satorokuro hesitated for a moment.
Kawamura Shimo Susuke slapped him on the head: "You idiot! What are you looking at! These Shinano people have already surrendered. What's the use of these wastes? If you don't put out the fire quickly, it will be too late!"
The peasants who built the castle brought their own grain, and the townsfolk in the castle town had no food income if they did not work hard. The food consumption of several thousand townspeople in Tsuzakikan throughout the winter was not a small amount. Once the grain storage point in the grain house was flooded and burned,
The price of food will inevitably increase several times in a short period of time. Now that heavy snow has fallen and transportation is blocked, even if we want to transfer food from other counties, we will not be able to quench our thirst.
News of the leakage of grain houses spread to the virus. Takenouchi and Gozaemon followed their colleagues and left their posts to put out the fire, but they did not notice a few diners quietly walking out of the corner shop. Their appearance was nondescript on the street.
It was bound to be forgotten. He walked out of the yard and looked around unintentionally. After making sure no one noticed, he quietly walked into the yard. It didn't take long for him to come out with a dozen children of different sizes.
At different times on the same day, the same scene appeared one after another in the Tsuguzaki Hall, and some samurai from Shinano suddenly disappeared. Dozens of people disappeared in just one day. When Takeda Shodai came to their senses, they realized
When something went wrong, these people had already left Kai and were on their way back to Shinano.
The Takeda family discussed the news in the middle of the night and unanimously decided to suppress the news. It is undeniable that the situation is getting worse. Takeda Harunobu is ill and has been confirmed to be absent from all family affairs for half a year. Takeda Nobushige of the powerful family is captured, Takeda Nobun, Takeda
Nobumate, a Noburyu was killed, and the most terrible thing was that Taro Yoshinobu was captured, which caused chaos in the Takeda family. The governor of the family was recuperating and did not care about worldly affairs. The heir of the family governor was captured. The members of the clan suffered heavy casualties. The entire Takeda family was facing collapse.
Critical situation.
Komai Masatake has been in and out of coma for more than a month. The old man has been holding on with just one breath. However, his physical weakness is an indisputable fact. These days, his coma is getting longer and longer, and his waking time is getting shorter and longer.
Shortened, I woke up again in the middle of the night and saw Nagasaka Mitsuken's concerned expression.
"...Is the situation outside okay?"
"It's not good. As soon as the snow stopped in the morning, the grain houses in the castle town started to catch fire one after another. Then the hostages of the Shinano country who were imprisoned in the castle town were rescued. The ninjas found that the fires were caused by humans. It can be determined that they were the work of the Kira ninjas."
Mitsuru Saka knew that time was urgent and did not dare to talk nonsense.
Komai Masatake gasped and said with difficulty: "...Is it Kira ninja again? We lost the battle in that case bizarrely. We lost three branch cities in a daze...and then the main camp was stolen in a daze.
, so that our military morale was shaken and we had no choice but to retreat... Looking back now, it was all the fault of the ninjas!"
Nagasaka Mitsuken sighed: "My master's old illness relapsed and he went to Yuya Hot Spring for recuperation. Now the family is maintained by the encouragement of our family. But the people's hearts have been broken!"
"Hey! This is fate! The fate of us samurai is that the sun rises and sets... The Rising Sun General Minamoto Yoshinaka was such a hero, but he died tragically at Awazu. We can't escape this disaster..." Masaru Komai was vague.
He answered unclearly, and after a long time he suddenly sighed: "My deadline is tonight..."
"Gao Baizhai! Please hold on!" Nagasaka Mitsuken looked at his old friend's painful expression and bitterly encouraged the dying old man. Several young people standing beside him hurriedly brought the soup but did not dare to come over.
However, Komai Masaru suddenly sat up, held Nagasaka Mitsukane's arm tightly, and as if he had exhausted all his strength, he chanted loudly: "I didn't expect it to be so fast! I, Gao Baizhai, have a clear conscience all my life! Mitsukane has done this for me.
I wrote down my last words of farewell! It is like a dream but not a dream, it is empty and not empty, all the fate of the world is in my heart..."
After saying that, the old man raised his head and let out a long sigh before falling straight down, taking his last breath with the last trace of unwillingness and nostalgia.
Nagasaka Mitsuken said in a trembling voice: "Notify my lord that...Komai Masatake, who entered the Taoist high school...has passed away!"
…
In Sagami Odawara Castle, Hojo Ujiyasu is talking to his eldest son Hojo Umasa. Compared with his high-spirited appearance half a year ago, the Sagami Lion is so old now. The blow of the defeat in the war has made his body lose weight, and his majestic face is still there.
His hair on his temples was frosty when he woke up, and Hojo Ujiyasu was in a good mood. He talked about the past and the present for a long time. Finally, the topic turned to the recent changes in the Takeda family.
"The Takeda family was defeated, and they were even more defeated than us. Most of Kai's samurai were gone for a while, and the Takeda family had no chance to turn around. I never thought that Echigo's military power would be so powerful. Before last year, Echigo was unable to run a business at the same time.
The two battlefields were able to withstand simultaneous attacks from four directions in just two years. Kira Town Mansion and Long Tail Bullet are all top-notch generals in the world. We did not lose unjustly. We can only blame ourselves for being so small.
I saw Echigo’s potential!”
"Don't you hate him, father? What I mean is Murasame Maru. After all, it was all because of that knife that caused us so much misery. In the past few years, I didn't dare to go out hawking at will, just because I was worried that the residents would see the Hojo family.
What kind of bad stories will the family clan make up? It’s really irritating to talk about. Why are other samurai hawks hunting, but our Hojo family kills and eats meat? This is not fair!” The Hojo clan Masayu said indignantly.
"Aren't you eating meat for the sake of killing?" The Hojo family smiled and said, "In fact, I have already looked away from that grudge. Looking back on the events of the year, the town hall was still a **-year-old child, and I, Hojo,
Our family had no grudges in the past and has no grudges in the recent past. What reason is there to frame us? The Hattori clan happened to join the Kira clan before stealing the sword, so we quickly came to the conclusion that it must be the young Xinxing who sent ninjas to steal the Murasame Maru, but failed
I don’t want to cause trouble by killing Lord Kanto, otherwise why go to all the trouble to just steal a sword instead of taking away all the financial treasures of Lord Furukawa’s family?”
"But if you put it this way, didn't Ashikaga Haruji die unjustly? He threw his life into a deep well for a knife thief. This is so unbelievable that I still can't understand it!"
After all, Hojo Ushimasa was still young. He was in his early twenties and wanted to make a career with high spirits, but he never expected to be dealt a blow and was beaten by Nagao Kagetora. He still hasn't gotten out of his psychological shadow. Hojo Ujimasa hesitated to speak, he
It is clear that the shadow must be overcome by himself, just like the night battle in Kagoshima more than ten years ago, he overcame the psychological shadow of the 80,000 Kwantung Allied Forces and finally won a shocking victory.
"After all, he is still too young. It would be nice if he could be given a few more years to train." Hojo Ujiyasu frowned slightly and said slowly: "The latest news is that Takeda Daisen went to Senzuka Hachiman Shrine and paid a visit to Kai Senior Monk Ki Under the auspices of Hidemoto Bo, he became a monk and became a monk, taking the Buddhist name Dereiken Kizan Shingen. From now on, he will be called Takeda Daizen-dofu Rindo Shingen."
The so-called title Dereiken Kizan Shingen is a simple name commonly used by samurai. In fact, it is a combination of the name of the academy, the name of the path, and the Buddhist name. The name of the academy is Dereiken, the name of the path is Kizan, and the Buddhist name is Shingen. It is such a complicated set The appellation system comes from the tradition of Japanese Buddhism, and the habit of using temples as temples has been passed down for hundreds of years. For example, Honganji Temple Zhengru, Chaoshengji Temple Minzhao, Shengxingji Yunsheng, Zuiquanji Temple Yongxiu, Guangtokuji Temple Chengxian, Honganji Temple The same is true for Jue Si Ding Yun.
Takeda Harunobu did not become a monk in a temple. Instead, he only became a monk but not a temple member. His monastic name "Kisan" is similar to Hojo Soun's monastic name "Tendake", as is the former abbot of Myoshinji Temple, Uncle Ming Qingjun's "Uncle Ming", Xi'an Xuanmi's "Xi'an" who will be the abbot of Miaoshin Temple, Taiyuan Xuezhai's "Taiyuan", and Imagawa Yoshimoto's former Buddhist name Meiyue Chengfang's "Meiyue" are also of this type.
This tradition comes from the Tang Empire. During the prosperous civilization of the Tang Dynasty, many eminent monks and great virtues were born, such as Nanyue Huairang's "Nanyue", Mazu Daoyi's "Mazu", Huangmei Hongren's "Huangmei" and Linji Yixuan's "Huangmei". This is true for "Linji" and "Huangbo" for Huangbo Xiyun.
Takeda Harunobu will no longer be called by this name in the future. According to the formal name of the temple, it should be Dereigen Shingen, just like the famous monk Hozoin Shinei of Kofukuji Temple. If it is in the documents recorded in Erinji Temple It will be marked as Kiyama Shingen. In fact, it was common sense for samurai in that era to be ordained and worship Buddha at home. He took the three refuges but did not observe the five precepts. In essence, he was still a samurai wearing a monk's robe and a dharma title, and his job was to kill people and seize property. Activities.
"Doctor Takeda Daisen entered Shingen and became a monk now to express his attitude? So what attitude does he want to express? To bear the responsibility for failure. To express a concession attitude or to express the spirit of not admitting defeat?" Hojo Ushimasa thought hard.
"You should not admit defeat! If you admit defeat, the Takeda family's envoy should have been waiting in Kasugayama Castle for a long time. There has been no movement at all in the past two months, and now he suddenly became a monk. He must not be reconciled to failure." Hojo Ujiyasu. He said disapprovingly: "What can he do even if he is still unwilling? This defeat has wiped out all the energy and spirit accumulated by the Takeda family for decades, and most of the essence accumulated by two generations has been lost. No matter how hard you try, it will be of no avail. "
"According to what my father said, doesn't the Takeda family have no chance to rebel? But the child thinks they still have a chance!" Hojo Ushimasa was afraid that his majestic father would misunderstand his thoughts, so he hurriedly explained: "The child means there is no chance. Is there any chance of a comeback? I think they still have a chance! After all, the Shinano half country is still in the hands of the Takeda family, and Kai still has many young samurai. If they grit their teeth and persist for five or seven years, they may be able to survive this threshold. There is no guarantee that there will be a chance of revival!”
Hojo Ujiyasu knew very well what his boy was thinking. He clearly pointed out whether the Takeda family could get out of the predicament, but in fact it was a metaphor that the Hojo family should insist on supporting it. No matter whether his idea was right or wrong, his enthusiasm should not be dampened, so he appreciated it. Said: "There is still hope for the Takeda family, but it is very difficult and not easy to achieve. On the other hand, the situation of our Hojo family is much better. If you endure it for three to five years, you can regain all your strength. What you have to do is to restore our Hojo family as soon as possible." The vitality of the family must not be provoked before the strength is restored, and do not try to get involved in the wild affairs. This is what the sages of the Ming Dynasty said about keeping a low profile and keeping a low profile."
"My child understands...wait a minute!" Hojo Ushimasa raised his head in surprise, looked at his father's extraordinarily kind face, and said in panic: "Did the father say that the child should do it? Why didn't the father do it, but... but the child did it?
"
"Because my father has made up his mind, he announced his official retirement at the New Year's Day meeting... It would be better to inform Shinkuro in advance so that you can make more preparations. In the blink of an eye, Shinkuro has grown into an adult in his twenties.
The struggle of our family for more than twenty years has not disgraced the inheritance passed down by your great-grandfather and grandfather. Now this heavy responsibility is entrusted to you. You must do it well and never lose the prestige of the Hojo family." Having said this, Hojo Ujiyasu
A trace of memories and remembrance flashed in his eyes.
"Father! You are in your prime and full of ambition. It is a great opportunity to show your ambition and gallop to Kanto! One failure is not enough to damage the foundation of my Hojo family. It only takes a few years to restore the old outlook. How can you say this at this time?
What a disheartening thing to say! The benevolent people of Sanshu are looking forward to you leading the Hojo family to lay a great foundation!" Hojo Ushimasa knelt down and begged: "Please take back your life, father, I cannot live without the Hojo family.
Your commander, even the children cannot do without your guidance!"
"Shinkuro! You are the son of my Hojo family, just like the eagle that controls the sky and looks down at the earth. You are destined to spread your wings and soar in the sky. How can you imitate the sparrow who loves its nest and never flies away and behaves like a small family... I have already made up my mind.
In reply, just take advantage of this month to sort out your political and military strategies. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, go ahead!" Hojo Ujiyasu waved his hand and asked him to step back.
Hojo Ushimasa made this war very easy. At first glance for an uninformed layman, the total losses of the Ueno family were equal to those of the Hojo family, as if it was just a draw, but in fact it was not.
In this way, the Nagao Legion refused to defend the camp due to its inferior strength, and the Hojo family was surrounded by a large army. In the end, they were beaten by the inferior Nagao Legion and almost completely collapsed. Of the eight thousand soldiers who died, most of them were from Nagao.
Home hand.
At this glance, we can see how strong Echigo is. With two enemies, one of them took advantage of it. In the end, it was two for one. For the Hojo family, it was a battle to kill five enemies.
After making a loss of one hundred and one thousand, he was finally forced to accept Nagao Kagetora's harsh exchange requirements, causing his uncle to lose face in Hirai Castle.
Hojo Ujiyasu, who had a smooth history, also retreated into seclusion after the heavy damage in the third year of Eiroku. Therefore, in the crisis situation where he was severely hit and unable to resist, Hojo Ujiyasu's ambition was destroyed and there was little left, so he returned to Odawara Castle.
It didn't take long for him to think of retiring.
Soon after, news came out from the Sagami Hojo family that the position of governor of the family had been passed on to Hojo Ushimasa, while Hojo Ujiyasu himself lived in seclusion in Odawara Castle and did not care about worldly affairs. His retirement also meant that the era of the Sagami Lions had passed, and the world was shrouded in darkness.
The dark clouds over Kanto seem to have dissipated a lot, and the way forward is still unclear. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!
