The situation in Kinki is very foggy. Looking at the overall situation from above, everyone has their own difficulties.
Ashikaga Yoshiaki stopped in Settsu Province, which was within Ichijo Hideyoshi's sphere of influence.
Ninagawa Senyo and Hatakeyama Takamasa, who were waiting for the general to go to Rakuten in Kyoto, were sweating profusely and kept urging Ashikaga Yoshiaki to go to Roka.
At the Tamon Mountain Castle in the Nara Basin, Shiba Yoshigami secretly summoned Takada Yukino to visit him.
The three parties present a triangular deadlock, which makes this sultry season of late summer and early autumn even more irritable.
Ninagawa, who had been granted the status of a dossin by Yoshigan Shiba, had become an envoy sent by the Kyoto shogunate to Ashikaga Yoshiaki to guide the general to Luo.
Unable to persuade Ashikaga Yoshiaki to continue going to Raku, she had no choice but to return to Kyoto alone and meet her mother Ninagawa.
Kyoto, Ninagawa Residence.
Ninagawa said with a sad face.
"Mother, procrastination like this is not an option. The autumn harvest is about to begin, and the general's chariot is still parked in Settsu.
Just because of the Wakae Castle Incident and Miyoshi Yoshitsugu committing seppuku, the general was so frightened that he stopped moving forward. Where is the majesty of the shogunate?
The martial arts families in the world are watching the shogunate's joke."
Ninagawa himself closed his eyes helplessly and sighed. Over the years, has the shogunate made too many fools of itself? Has it not made many people laugh?
But even so, the upper echelons of the shogunate have to grit their teeth to support this mess, otherwise what will everyone eat in the future?
Even though the reputation of the Ashikaga shogunate was in disrepute, and the house was so dilapidated that it would fall down at the drop of a hat, for the top shogunate officials, it could still provide them with shelter from the wind and rain and provide them with hard-core crops.
The income from Kyoto's castle towns and the offerings of daimyo from various places are indeed decreasing year by year, but no matter how small it is, can it be less than the harvest from the territory?
In the two hundred years since the Ashikaga shogunate, the shogunate's direct territories outside have been basically eroded by local samurai families, and the shogunate's fiefdoms are also within the influence of Yamashiro Kingdom and its surrounding shogunate.
This is like the countries of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. The royal family of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty only had a few acres of land in Kinki. How could they compete with the big countries like Jin, Qin, Chu, and Qi? Rely on their status?
In these troubled times when rituals and music have collapsed, who cares about these illusory statuses? The truly reliable things must be the land, population, money and food in our hands!
The height of the mountain city's national stone is 210,000 dan, and including the surrounding shogunate's territory, the total is less than 300,000 dan.
If there are so many noble people in the shogunate who only rely on this for food and drink, they might as well drink from the west wind and the north!
With the Ashikaga Shogunate as a sign, the shogunate would have a reason to collect commissions from the castle towns of Kyoto, accept offerings from local samurai families, and trade for the title of shogunate.
But if the Ashikaga Shogunate falls, then we will really have nothing. How can we live on the little money and food donated by the saint?
The benefits of being a Shiba martyr at six koku a year, and the noble title of Grand Councilor United Front, are you selling the Ashikaga Shogunate, where generations have been eating and drinking?
The lower-level shogunate samurai could accept it happily, study hard, prepare to take the Shiba selection examination, and make a living in the new ruling system.
But for nobles like Ninagawa and Hatakeyama, there is no way they would throw away their ancestral property that they had owned for two hundred years and become some disgusting united front!
To be honest, the saint treated the Ninagawa family well, but for the sake of the hereditary position of acting official, Ninagawa gritted his teeth and fell in with Hatakeyama Takamasa.
In the eyes of outsiders, the two of them were stupid and foolish, and they were deliberately looking for trouble when their good days were over.
But in the eyes of the two of them, this is something that must be fought for. The ancestral inheritance cannot be lost like this. They should make a fuss and discuss the price with the saint.
It's not that the Ashikaga Shogunate couldn't sell it, but the nobles had to sell it at a good price.
You sit down and lower the price, while I shout the price. In the end, it’s all about closing the deal.
Ashikaga Yoshiaki was the bargaining chip used by Ninagawa himself, Hatakeyama Takamasa and other senior shogunate officials to negotiate a deal with the saint. Now that Ashikaga Yoshiaki dare not move, it is impossible to negotiate the terms of the Kyoto shogunate.
Ninagawa himself beat his chest and stamped his feet.
"Can't you try to persuade Mr. Gongfang again?
The death of Miyoshi Yoshitsugu was nothing more than an accident, and it was absolutely impossible to have the tacit consent of the saint.
I know the saint very well, and the saint cannot do this kind of thing of instigating the local martial arts family to conquer the superiors and usurp other people's territory.
Lord Gongfang, don’t worry, just go straight to Luo. From Diancheng to Kyoto, it only takes a day and night to ride a horse and nothing will happen.”
Ninagawa's words are true.
Ichijo Hideyoshi returned from Saikuni and went to Luo in the name of avenging Oda Nobunaga, and confronted Akechi Mitsuhide with Yamazaki. In the end, due to the intervention of Hosokawa Fujitaka, he could not eliminate Akechi Mitsuhide in a short time.
Therefore, Ichijo Hideyoshi turned around and killed Matsunagahide who opened the door and bowed to the thieves, took Yodo Castle, Fushimi Castle, Sakamoto Castle, Azuchi Castle and other important towns, and controlled the Yodogawa and the transportation hub on the south bank of Lake Biwa.
Although after the war, Ichijo Hideyoshi voluntarily withdrew from Fushimi Castle in the southern suburbs of Kyoto in order to show respect for the saint, Yodo Castle was still in her hands.
After Tsuneki Ikeda died in battle, Ichijo Hideyoshi took advantage of the situation to take over Settsu Province and opened up the front line from Harima Province to Yodo Castle. Now the north bank of the Yodo River is Ichijo Hideyoshi's sphere of influence.
What Ashikaga Yoshiaki needs to face independently is just a few days' journey from Yodo Castle to Kyoto. If he rides a horse and runs quickly, he can get there in one day. Why should he be afraid of this?
When she, the Ashikaga shogun, enters Kyoto, ministers such as Ninagawa and Hatakeyama Takamasa will carry her to compete with the saint. Do the Shiba family still dare to invade Kyoto and massacre the shogunate?
Even Ninagawa himself, who had always been timid and afraid of getting into trouble, felt that Ashikaga Yoshiaki was too timid and was really unfit for purpose.
Ninagawa blinked his eyes and looked at his restless mother. She didn't know what to say for a moment. She just felt that her mother and Hatakeyama Takamasa had thought of things too beautifully.
It turned out that the elder Ninagawa carried the identity of a member of the family, and the saint also had great trust in the Ninagawa family and his daughter.
As long as the Ninagawa family takes the lead in accepting the restructuring, handing over the position of acting official of the shogunate, and leading the ministers to change the family, with the temperament of a saint, the Ninagawa family will definitely not be treated badly.
The Ninagawa family will surely find a good position in the new Shiba system and continue their wealth.
However, my mother was suffering from a hypothetical disease and became stubborn. She was determined to keep the lucrative job of acting as a government official. She colluded with Hatakeyama Takamasa, the false leader of the shogunate, and actually wanted to force the palace saint.
Mr. Ninagawa didn't understand. What was so rare about this acting official?
The real leader of the political office was Ise Sadakyu. Where is he now? Wasn't he kidnapped by Oda Nobunaga and his whole family was killed on the river bank, leaving no one alive.
Hatakeyama Takamasa is even more ridiculous, clinging to his false shogunate leader and refusing to let go.
Just kidding, she is so pitiful that she has a bad reputation and played in public affairs until she lost her family fortune. What is there to cherish about a manager in name only?
If the saint had not come forward to protect her territory in the land of Minamihanoi, Hatakeyama Takamasa, the governor of the Hatakeyama clan, would not know where to beg for food right now?
After closing the door and pretending to be in the empty frame of the Kyoto shogunate for several years, these two frogs in the well really feel that they are capable? Do they dare to make a deal with the saint?
If Ninagawa was not Ninagawa's biological daughter, she would not want to get involved in these bad things.
If he hadn't thought that if he didn't do it, his mother would find someone else to do it, Ninagawa would have gone to the saint to kowtow in apology and sell his mother out cleanly.
However, it was not too late now. Ninagawa held his nose and negotiated between Ashikaga Yoshiaki and his mother, grasping the rhythm and preparing to surrender to the saint.
When the critical moment comes, she will definitely sell off her mother, an old fool, in order to preserve the Ninagawa family business.