The New Year at the beginning of Eiroku's third year was particularly difficult. The continuous snowstorms showed no sign of stopping. Even Odawara Castle, located on the west coast of Sagami Bay, suffered heavy snowfall. Hojo Umasa stood in the assessment room and looked at the snow-white world, feeling worried in his heart.
Like a huge mountain that could not be removed from his mind, he was thinking about the adverse effects that the heavy snow would have.
The Hojo family, who adopted Oishi Sadahisa as his adopted son and later returned to the clan, looked after his brother who was restless and said, "It's really annoying that it's snowing all the time. Even going out for hawk hunting has become very inconvenient. My lord, listen."
The elders at home are discussing that the harvest has been poor for two consecutive years, and it seems that this year’s situation will not be good either.”
"Ujiteru is right. The current situation is very unfavorable for our Hojo family. It's almost the busy farming season and there are still heavy snowfalls. I'm afraid the good time will be missed!" Matsuda Morihide opened his hazy sleepy eyes and looked like he was trying hard to make things better.
I don’t doze off so quickly.
The old Matsuda Morihide, who is over eighty years old, still manages to serve as an official in Odawara Castle. This man has lived in Kanto with Hojo Sounmo Shita Izu for more than sixty years. After the baptism of time, the former young and handsome Kyoto samurai has turned into an old man.
There are not many old Kanto warriors like him left who have served as auxiliary ministers in three dynasties. His existence is not only that of a family elder, but also an important figure who contacts the Kyoto shogunate.
The Matsuda family comes from the Ashikaga Shogun family's clan of honchos. The family has been collecting taxes for the shogunate for generations. The current shogunate's pontiffs are Matsuda Fujihiro, Matsuda Yorie, Matsuda Mitsutoshi, and Matsuda Yoritaka.
Matsuda Morihide himself also went to Kyoto to serve as a member of the sect of the shogunate during the Tenbun period, and was in charge of the collection of taxes and fees for the shogunate's royal materials office.
At the same time, he also served as an important liaison between the Sagami Hojo clan and the shogunate. Without his support, the Hojo family would not have been able to kill the Uesugi clan of Ogitani in the Kawagoe night battle. In the Kanto Tenbun Rebellion, he killed Furukawa Kōkō and Kogami Kōkō with great authority.
Awe-inspiring. However, the shogunate still hasn't issued a crusade order. If he had been so unscrupulous decades ago, he would definitely be punished. Maybe he would follow the old example of Soun Hojo who destroyed the Horikoshi family and replace him with another samurai family responsible for the invasion of Kanto.
Flag head.
It can be said that the meaning of the existence of veterans like him is to prove to the world that the Hojo family is not only a samurai family that is rapidly becoming a daimyo in the Warring States Period, but also a branch of the Kyoto samurai family that is in line with the interests of the shogunate. To some extent, it is also catering to the resurgence of the shogunate.
It follows the trend and caters to the political orientation of its powerful neighbor in the north.
Hojo Ushimasa shook his head and said: "What I am most worried about is the powerful enemy in the north! The appetite of the governor is getting bigger and bigger. Last year, he won a series of brilliant victories in Echu, Kaga, and Deyu, and his strength became stronger.
As the country becomes stronger and stronger, how can I, the governor of this family, be able to settle down to govern and expand the family territory when we have powerful neighbors in the north who are still harboring ulterior motives?"
After two years of experience as a household governor, he suffered first defeat and then victory in the Second Battle of Kokufutai and then victory in the Mifuneyama Battle. Hojo Ujimasa's temperament is much calmer than that of more than a year ago. The young eagle must win
Only after going through wind and rain can one soar high into the sky. Hojo Ushimasa, a young family governor, experienced exactly this cycle and reestablished a correct outlook on governance.
"My lord, what you mean is..." the veteran Yamakaku Sadayoshi asked hesitantly, "Do you want to ask or agree to the Miyoshi family's alliance? But with the situation of the Hojo family, leading the next siege is a bit out of my power! After all, the one in the north
The military strategy of the Duke of Zhenfu is really great, and the old master is full of praise for that man!"
Hojo Ushimasa frowned slightly when he heard this, and glanced at the three auxiliary military advisors. Yamato's military commander Haruto, Ise Bichu's chastity guard, and Ogasawara Harima's guard Yasuhiro, saw these three wise generals raising their heads at the same time.
Hojo Umasa shook his head slightly, and he understood that it was several teachers who advised him to calm down.
Many ministers in the evaluation room did not notice this episode. The samurai frowned and thought hard, but Hojo Ushige, who was sitting in the back row, curled his lips and snorted: "The Miyoshi family is just a nouveau riche who started from the bottom up.
, How can it be compared to my Hojo family, who personally ordered the Yatsushiro Lord Jihoin to conquer the Kanto generals? He thought that as the guardian, he could control the situation of the Eastern Kingdom, and also launched the so-called Kira siege network. I really don’t know.
The sky is so high and so thick!”
The Ise Hojo clan was an outsider in Kanto. He wanted to use the name Hojo to get closer, but was ruthlessly exposed. So he simply broke out during the Kanto Astronomical Rebellion and lied about his origin as a member of the Ise clan, the deacon of the shogunate government office.
Let’s be clear, if you don’t like to hear it, then I don’t like to act it either. The Kanto Samurai is so powerful, but why did he get beaten up by our Kyoto Samurai so badly that his nose was bruised and his face was swollen?
Anyway, this group of young samurai in the Hojo family who speak with Kanto country accents have begun to call themselves samurai from Kyoto. They will show off the things their ancestors did to Izu under the orders of the shogunate. As a result, many people who belong to the Hojo family have been exposed.
The foreigners were so disgusted that the Hojo clan did not stop it and allowed this trend to gradually rise.
Shimizu Yasuhide is older than Hojo Ushige, and he has joined the family lineage in his late thirties. He relies on not only his excellent political execution ability, but also his good military achievements and the reputation accumulated by his father. His
His father, Shimizu Tsunayoshi, served as Hojo Ujiyasu's fufu, and his mother was Hojo Ujiyasu's wet nurse. Therefore, although he was more than ten years younger than Hojo Ujiyasu, he could still qualify as a brother-in-law.
As the patriarch of the Izu Twenty-One Family and the youngest generation elder of the Hojo family, Hojo Umasa must maintain a certain degree of respect and courtesy even when he sees him, because he is the youngest patriarch and always has to be reserved.
In order not to hang out with these young samurai who were younger than him, and to cultivate a reputation for being modest and serious among the older family members, he instead gained a bad reputation among the young samurai for being arrogant.
Seeing Hojo Shige criticize the Miyoshi family, he deliberately added a few words, then coughed and said: "That Miyoshi repairman suffered a big loss in Kanto last year, when an army of 60,000 besieged General Nakajo of the Kira family.
Xiu and the dim-witted Rokkaku Yoshihide fought hard all summer and finally failed to win Kyoto. They sacrificed tens of thousands of people in vain and only gained a relatively decent peace. From this point of view, it is no wonder that they were defeated by the newly rising Zhen Fu Gong!
"
Kasahara Yasuaki is not only one of the Twenty-One Izu Family, but also one of the young samurai members of the Hojo family. When his immediate boss spoke up, he also mocked: "The Miyoshi family does not overestimate its capabilities. Even the old master led the army and was defeated.
In the hands of the Kira family, such an outstanding figure as Dr. Takeda Daizen was beaten to the point of collapse. How could he, a nouveau riche from the Awa countryside, compare to him? He couldn't even deal with the remaining generals of the Kira family and dared to imitate us in setting up the Kira siege net?
It’s simply overestimating one’s abilities!”
"That's right! We, the Hojo family, should try our best to stabilize the territory of the lower and upper clans and actively expand to the lower country. How can we have no time to accompany the Miyoshi family to play anti-Kira siege nets!"
"It's ridiculous to think that I can use 20,000 guanwen of Yongle money to buy tens of thousands of tigers and wolves from my Hojo family to serve them! We, the Hojo family, don't lack this kind of money either!"
"Nonsense! Twenty thousand guan is a lot of money for Wen Yongle! Didn't you see that we have been suffering from disasters in the past two years? 20,000 guan can do a lot of things!"
A group of samurai started talking in low voices, talking over and over about how powerful the Kira family was. The Zhenfu Gong and Danzhengden were blooming on the north and south sides, killing the entire Deyu country with fear and trembling.
Rui. A man as big as Ishiyama Honganji was forced to bow his head and give in. This has never happened before, and it is completely unimaginable.
Matsuda Morihide, who was taking a nap, seemed to be awakened by the discussion of this group of young people. He slowly opened his eyes and after a while, he smacked his lips and said: "I have a plan, I don't know whether to talk about it or not!"
Hojo Ushimasa was surprised and said: "Oh? Please tell me, Shōshūden!"
"Although the Miyoshi family's strategy is somewhat inappropriate, it is not as useless as imagined. Since the Miyoshi repair doctor is willing to pay a lot of money to let me, the Hojo family, take charge of the anti-Kira siege network, then I will agree to him, and the 20,000 Kanbun Yongle money will be enough."
It is a disaster relief fund that my Hojo family urgently needs. After the impact of the current snowstorm is resolved, it will not be too late to discuss how to send troops to attack where."
Matsuda Morihide spoke very slowly. It is hard to imagine that the old man was still an energetic minister a few years ago. He worked hard for the expansion of the Hojo family. With the heavy blow of the tragic defeat in the Takayama battle, Hojo Ujiyasu resigned from the family governor and lived in seclusion in Odawara.
Unsurprisingly, many veteran ministers have also passed away in the past few years, and Matsuda Morihide has become much older. Even now it is very difficult to speak a few words.
Hojo Genan put his palms together and praised: "Tsuma Shoden said well! I also mean the same thing. No matter whether the matter is completed or not, take the money first, and whether the reserve fund in the treasury can be moved or not, it is better to have 20,000 guanwen
Yongle money can follow the example of the Kira family, buy a large amount of rice and hire farmers to clear the snow, build river defenses, loosen the soil and plow the land, and first cross the threshold of natural disasters."
Ogasawara Yasuhiro then smiled and echoed: "The Miyoshi family is willing to spend a large sum of money to make me fight for the Kira family to the death. Why can't the Hojo family take the money and then consider whether to fight to the death for him? Gyeonggi is so far away from Kanto.
, the Miyoshi family is just a member of the Shikoku nationality. It rose suddenly and dominated Kinki in more than ten years. However, it has no foundation in Kanto. Even if it does not get the rewards it deserves, I am afraid there is nothing to complain about.
!”
Yamato Harutong smiled at their statement, and after he finished speaking, he said: "It is not good to damage the reputation of our Hojo family by taking money without doing anything. Since our Hojo family takes people's money, we must do something within our ability."
Things... such as attacking the people in Kanto who are leaning towards the Kira family, such as Yoshihiro Satomi of the Upper Kingdom, Haruto Yuki of the Lower Kingdom, Masatsuna Sano of the Lower Country, Yoshiaki Satake of Hitachi Kingdom and others, I believe
Repair doctor Miyoshi will definitely understand our Hojo family’s efforts to eliminate the Kira family’s minions!”
"You're right! You're so right! Let's do it later!" Hojo Ushige shouted excitedly: "Get rid of those Chinese people first, don't care if they are against Kira or not, they are just showing off.
Well! Miyoshi Nagakei is not a half-shogun, so how can he extend his hand to Kinki and influence Kanto? It is ridiculous that an upstart who overestimates his own abilities wants to imitate the strategy of a half-shogun! If the Miyoshi family offends the Kira family and my Hojo family,
Let’s see what else they can do to interfere with Kanto affairs!”
The samurai of the Hojo family have no objection at all to trying to trick the Miyoshi family. If the shogunate made a request, they might consider this matter carefully, but if it were the Miyoshi family with no foundation, it would be different. The family's overwhelming hegemony was so fragile in last year's Luozhong battle. It's strange that the Hojo family would be afraid of a papery overlord like him. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!
ps: Thanks to the two book friends for the reward.