Soon after, the group of people hid in a cave in Ibe Mountain with the samurai of the Asai family, and finally learned the whole story of the chaos in Kotani Castle from the samurai of the Asai family.
The talented and strategic governor of the Asai family, Asai Ryomasa, fought all his life and finally established the Asai family's territory in Kitaomi. What worried him all the time was that the eldest son, his successor Asai Hisamasa, had a weak character and did not have the style of the samurai family. So,
Asai Meimasa selected a proud young man from the common people of the Asai family, betrothed his beloved daughter Tsuruchiyo to him, adopted her as a son-in-law and adopted son, and named her Asai Meimasa.
However, Asai Ryomasa's attempt to establish a common clan aroused opposition from the Asai family's retainers. The Asai family's chief ministers, led by Kaibita Tsunauchi, Akao Kiyoshizuna, and Amamori Kiyosada, jointly opposed the lord's action. Asai Ryomasa had to withdraw.
After becoming Mingming, he was passed down to his eldest son Asai Hisamasa before his death, and he took back the identity of Asai Akimasa's heir and changed his Miao name to Tagaya Akimasa.
Naturally, Tianya Meimasa and his supporters were extremely dissatisfied with this, and secretly began to collude with the Saito family. Asai Hisamasa's cowardice was also exposed after he succeeded to the throne. He did not like political affairs and did not participate in military affairs. Facing the Rokkaku family, Asai Ryo
The provocations launched by the Empress Dowager on the border were indifferent, and the wealthy families under the Asai family fell to the Rokkaku family one after another, which aroused widespread dissatisfaction among the retainers, and undercurrents surged within the Asai family.
After the Asakura family and the Oda family suddenly formed an alliance and jointly invaded Mino, the Saito family, unable to cope with the enemies from both sides, instigated Taya Akimasa to rebel. They hoped that he would seize the position of governor of the Asai family and abandon the alliance with the Asakura family.
Cutting off the retreat of the Asakura family's army. Tagaya Akimasa united with the opposition to rise up and attack Otani Castle. Asai Hisamasa, who was weak in military preparedness, failed to notice it in advance and was caught off guard. He escaped from Otani under the desperate protection of his retainers.
The city is coming.
At this moment, those escorting Asai Hisamasa to the mountains behind Kotani Castle were Akao Kiyosuna, Amamori Kiyosada and more than twenty flags. Akao Kiyosuna recognized them because he had met Imagawa Yoshimoto and others before. Imagawa
A group of people from the Asai family and the Takeda family were watching the situation down the mountain on the hillside, planning how to arrange the route - on the other side, the retainers of the Asai family were quarreling.
"Lord, cheer up. How come it's been so long and why do you still act like it's none of your business?" Kiyosada Yumori knelt down on one knee sadly, spreading his hands and kept admonishing Asai Hisamasa in front of him,
"We must quickly find a way to contact His Highness Haibei in Sickle City. There are many troops stationed in Sickle City, and His Highness Haibei is also loyal to you!"
"Just go and make arrangements for Akao-dono." Asai Hisamasa, who was sitting on a bluestone in the middle, responded casually and depressedly. He was a little thin, and the samurai uniform on his body was also dim and light gray, and there was no trace of heroism in his eyebrows.
On the contrary, it was lifeless.
"Lord, this matter must be authenticated in your own hand." Akao Kiyosuna on the side took a step forward, "The situation is now chaotic, Otani Castle has been controlled by Tianya Meimasa's people, and I will definitely write the letter in the name of my lord and the lower class.
Sickle Blade City, to deceive His Highness Haibei's trust. His Highness Haibei has always been mature and prudent, and will not easily send troops without seeing conclusive evidence."
"Isn't it enough to just have my seal?" Asai Hisamasa took out his big seal from his arms and stuffed it towards Akao Kiyosuna, but Akao Kiyosuna didn't take it. Instead, he sighed and persuaded her sincerely.
Advice:
"My lord, it is because you always look so depressed that this change occurred. When the previous lord's order was passed to you, most of the family agreed, and those young men disappeared. But you neglected the affairs of the Wu family and ignored political affairs every day.
You are not engaged in military affairs, and you rarely even attend evaluation meetings. You have alienated important officials in the family, which has caused the family to become alienated and lose confidence in you. This has given Tanaya Akimasa the opportunity to interfere and alienate you. If you want to restore the decline of the Asai family at the moment, it is not possible.
Suppressing the mutiny is enough. You also need to be able to make a splash, sweep away the depression of the past, and be as shrewd and capable as the old master, in order to win over the hearts of the family. How can you sit back and wait for our retainers to act for you? You are needed right now.
Go show your leadership!"
"Why do you have to force me to do something I don't want to do?" Asai Hisamasa also let out a long sigh and lowered his head, not daring to face the eyes of Amemori Kiyosada and Akao Kiyosuna, "My brother-in-law wants to
If you want to be the governor of the family, let him be the governor. I never said that I wanted the position of the governor. Why don’t you insist on forcing my late father to appoint me? I am just such an ordinary person with no motivation and no use.
It's impossible to expect me to change. If you want a smart and capable lord, go and join Tagaya Akimasa, he is much better than me."
"Hey!" Yumori Kiyosada was so angry at Asai Hisamasa's words that he gritted his teeth and hammered the dirt with his hand, "My lord, this is your responsibility! You are the eldest son of the Wu family, so this is you
We must fulfill our obligations! How can we just shirk our obligations to others so wantonly?"
Asai Hisamasa remained silent and looked away.
However, Akao Kiyosuna did not give up yet and continued to teach him earnestly: "My lord, haven't you taught me enough lessons this time? You were born in a samurai family in troubled times. This is a fate that you cannot escape. There are some things you don't want to face.
Yes, things will come to you on their own! You don’t hold the power in your own hands. When others do, they will get rid of you! It’s because you are the eldest son of the First Lord, and you are guilty of harboring a treasure! Even if you don’t hold the power in your own hands, others will turn around and get rid of you!
Either for the foundation of the Asai family or for your own survival, you have to muster up your energy! Fight for it! If you don’t fight, you will die!"
"It's meaningless." Asai Hisamasa just shook his head, "No matter how powerful a family is, it will eventually decline one day. How high it stands when it is at its peak will be how miserable it falls when the country is destroyed. This is the case for hundreds of people in the world.
How can I, an ordinary person, change the pattern of the year? I don’t want to be involved in it. I just want to stay anonymous and find a place to live in seclusion for the rest of my life. I have no interest in the killings of the Wu family. "
"Hey!" Yumori Kiyosada spat in great disappointment, stood up and turned around to leave, followed by Akao Kiyosuna beside him. Soon after, someone could faintly hear someone wielding a knife to chop bamboo from the bamboo forest nearby.
Sounds of venting anger, and several angry scoldings:
"The First Lord was so heroic, how could he give birth to such a useless loser? He was bullied in the face, let alone fighting back, and he didn't even know how to get angry? Is there really a man like this?"
Just as Amemori Kiyosada scolded him, even if he was so insulted by his retainers, Asai Hisamasa, who could hear clearly from the sidelines, remained unmoved and showed no signs of anger. He just sat on the stone dejectedly, not even for a moment.
He rubbed his hair. The Hatamotos beside him were all furious at first because of Yumori Kiyosada's impoliteness, but when they saw that their lord still had no temper, they all became discouraged - I'm afraid this is
What the Asai family calls "the family is alienated from morality and disappointed with the governor".
"Did you see Goro? This is what your bullshit attitude towards life should have been like in the troubled times of the samurai family." Haruki Takeda, who was watching the show on the side, bumped the folding fan around Yoshimoto Imagawa's waist with his elbow, "If you don't want to make progress,
You have no ambition, ignore government affairs, do not conduct yourself in the military, and alienate important ministers. You should have ended up like this. You were driven out of the city by the disappointed retainers, and you were left to live in poverty like a bereaved dog."
"Do you know why you didn't encounter all this?" Takeda Harunobu saw that Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't answer, so he said to himself: "First, it's because you were lucky, Goro, and met Master Yukisai, a good assistant who is rare in the world. Back then,
There was civil strife in your Imagawa family, and we all thought that you, Yue Chengfang, were already dead, but unexpectedly, you were tricked into death by Master Xuezhai, and instead supported you to replace your wise and martial brother."
"The second reason is because your own talents are so dazzling. Even if you have no motivation to use your talents at all, your suppressed talents are still far beyond ordinary people. This prevents people from being too disappointed in you. If you are a
An ordinary person as mediocre as His Highness Asai, with such a careless attitude, would have been killed long ago. But don’t you know it’s a pity? I feel pity for you. Such a good talent, such a good foundation of the Imagawa family
, I should have given you an opportunity to show off your talents and make achievements, but you wasted it yourself."
"I really can't help it... I'm embarrassed by what you said." Imagawa Yoshimoto showed a bitter smile, took out his folding fan and tapped his palm lightly, looking at the silent Asai Hisamasa not far away——
It's like looking at your mediocre self in another world in the mirror.
Yes, I should have been in the same situation as him - I was just lucky.
So Imagawa Yoshimoto turned a corner and came to Taiyuan Xuezai who was looking at the terrain on the hillside. He pulled him to a deserted place in a roundabout way. He said with some shame: "Teacher, why do the retainers of the Asai family treat His Highness Asai like this?"
Disappointed?"
"Didn't you hear how those two adults scolded you? Didn't you think about it?" Taiyuan Xuezhai replied without thinking.
"Um..." Imagawa Yoshimoto was slightly embarrassed by what he said. After thinking about his wording for a moment, he decided to ask tentatively: "Then what he and I did are similar, why didn't I see any retainers at home talking to each other?"
Am I disappointed?"
"Huh? Our Chengfang is finally stimulated to ask such questions?" Taiyuan Xuezhai burst out laughing when he heard this, "You know, this is a rare 'human talk' in the six or seven years since you have been the governor!
"
"So why?" Imagawa Yoshimoto blushed as he was ridiculed by Taiyuan Xuezhai.
"The number of evaluation meetings you have held in the past seven years can be counted on one hand." Taiyuan Xuezhai actually raised one of his hands as he spoke, and started counting with his fingers. Is it 3 or 3?
4 hesitated for a while, and finally reluctantly broke off his ring finger, "You can't even see the faces of your retainers, how do you know if they hate you? Are they disappointed in you? In addition to meeting your master, your father,
There are also a few Hatamoto in the castle tower, aren’t they spending the rest of the time having sex with their wives and children?”
"When I led the army in Azozaka before, I felt that the soldiers were still..." Imagawa Yoshimoto recalled his experience of fighting alone to cut off the retreat of his subordinates when he led the army in Mikawa, and recalled the scene where the soldiers lined up to cheer him.
, "Ah, it's really hard for me to boast, but I don't have a bad impression of me anyway."
"Soldiers and samurai are different. Soldiers at the bottom have little knowledge and think little. As long as you lead the way, love the soldiers as a son, and have some personal charm, they will love and respect you." Taiyuan Xuezhai shook his head and spoke.
Turning around, he said: "But the samurai are different. The high-level samurai have experienced the ups and downs of the officialdom. Although there are some pure people among them who are inspired by morality, most of them have ledgers in their hearts and calculate their own accounts. Can you be satisfied?
If you can bring benefits to their interests, they will support you. Otherwise, they will naturally be disappointed in you."
"Then have I satisfied their interests?" Imagawa Yoshimoto asked uneasily.
"Have you done anything in the past six or seven years? Do you think you have ever been satisfied? You have not even met or talked to your retainers. Do you think you have satisfied their interests? You have not even met their interests.
You don’t know anything about your interests and demands, right?” Taiyuan Xuezhai retorted with a smile.
"Then will they rebel like the retainers of the Asai family?" Imagawa Yoshimoto was startled by the world in Taiyuan Xuezhai's mouth, and he frowned with some worry.
"Don't worry, you will not be able to change the world if you are suppressed by Master Youwei." Taiyuan Xuezhai laughed confidently and patted Imagawa Yoshimoto hard on the back, "Since you have entrusted all state affairs to Master
Well, as a teacher, I will naturally not let you down, right? Let An Xin be your idle superintendent."