Smart people can always convince themselves with clear logic. It is easy to confuse them for a while, but it is too difficult to make them become believers in gods.
In fact, the most important thing is that Akechi Mitsuhide has never seen the world, and has never seen the miracle that Yoshigan performed in the snow at Tsuruoka Hachimangu Shrine.
In the heavy snowfall, only Yoshigin held the sun above his head to worship Hachiman Tai Ni. In full view of everyone, he received a divine message. The Hojo family was so frightened that they did not dare to make a mistake, and the Kanto samurai family kowtowed to admit their mistake.
If Mitsuhide Akechi saw that scene, her outlook would be shattered. Let's see how she explains this extreme weather change.
The three of them looked at Nanshan Mountain in the distance. There were faint musical instruments playing, and Yiyin suddenly remembered something.
"Is there an imperial white flag enshrined in Ishikimizu Hachimangu Shrine, which was the flag used by the first Ashikaga Shogun to call upon imperial family members in the Western Kingdom?"
Hosokawa Fujitaka was relieved to see that the two of them finally stopped fighting.
Akechi Mitsuhide was her iron ally, and Yoshigan was her master and man. The two of them quarreled over their different ideas, which made Hosokawa Fujitaka, a speculator with experience in shogunate politics, anxious.
Seeing that the topic was finally brought up, she couldn't wait to talk further, lest the conflict between Yoshigan and Akechi Mitsuhide intensify.
Hosokawa Fujitaka smiled.
"It's that imperial white flag.
At that time, Ashikaga Takauji, the first shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate, was killed by an traitor. After his defeat, he was forced to flee to the Western Kingdom alone.
It was with this imperial white flag that he called on the imperial family of the Western Kingdom to renew their oaths, escort the direct descendants of the Genji family in Hanoi to Luo Kyoto, and then open the palace.
Thinking about it now, more than a hundred years later, is fascinating and exciting."
Yiyin smiled and said nothing.
Although Ashikaga Takauji was the first shogun to open the Ashikaga Shogunate, his life was actually not comfortable and even very frustrating.
The emperor tried to punish her again and again, and other branches of the Kawachi Genji family also competed with her to inherit the line of orthodoxy. In the end, they were defeated and almost ended.
Fortunately, the emperor at that time was a fool and was unwilling to accept the general trend of the Wu family replacing the public family. He insisted on bucking the trend, restoring the royal government, and taking away the manor land that the Wu family had finally obtained.
This triggered a huge backlash from the samurai. The samurai who were forced into a corner once again remembered their oath to always be loyal to Kawachi Genji, and raised Ashikaga Takauji, who had almost become a lost dog.
Ironically, the place where Ashikaga Takauji regrouped in the Western Kingdom was Tomo in Bingo Province.
After Ashikaga Yoshiaki escaped from Kyoto, he reopened his palace in Tomon with the support of the Mori family, the overlord of the Western Kingdom, in an attempt to replicate the story of Ashikaga Takauji.
It's a pity that Yoshigage is not the brainless emperor. He always stands firmly on the side of the interests of the samurai family, leaving Ashikaga Yoshiaki, a poor prince, at a loss what to do.
In the end, Ashikaga Yoshiaki could only roll back to Kinki in despair, and prayed to Ashikaga Takauji's white flag at Ishikimizu Hachimangu Shrine, hoping to be forgiven by Yoshiaki and return to Kyoto.
Thinking of this, Yiyin couldn't help but laugh.
Regardless of whether it was Minamoto no Yori or Ashikaga Takauji, the two founders of the samurai regime were actually weak rulers and had to rely on the support of the Bando Hachihei clan and the Imperial Family of the Western Kingdom to launch the ceremony.
As for Yiyin, it may not be as good as them.
As a boy, Yiyin was naturally at a disadvantage in the strict hierarchical society of the samurai family, so he had to find another way and follow the Shinto way to downplay his gender attributes and deify himself.
Men are not allowed to have sex, and the children they give birth to will be looked down upon and regarded as bastards.
But if it were a male god, it would be fine.
Thinking of this, Yoshigami didn't know if he was qualified to laugh at the weakness of Minamoto Yoritomo and Ashikaga Takauji. It seemed that he was also embarrassed.
Shaking his head, he sighed.
No matter what, it seems that the Imperial White Flag enshrined in Ishikimizu Hachimangu Shrine will not be able to pass today's test.
Seeing that Yoshigin was lost in thought, Hosokawa Fujitaka joked.
"Is the saint thinking about the sacrificial ceremony on the other side? It is said that Ninagawa personally performed it. It is a rare grand gesture by the shogunate in recent years. It is very luxurious."
Yiyin smiled.
"The shogunate has not been rich in recent years, and it is rare that Ninagawa, the acting official of the government, is willing to spend money.
I don’t care about the sacrifice itself, I just think of the one hundred and eight white flags flying around the main hall, which must be quite spectacular.”
Akechi Mitsuhide glanced at Yoshigan and interjected.
"I heard that these 108 white flags were planted all over the main hall overnight. The flagpoles were made of iron and were inserted so deep that they scared the priests and witches of the shrine. They went around to check whether there was any intruder.
It’s also interesting that these people who are closest to gods are the ones who least believe in miracles.”
Akechi Mitsuhide pointed out that serving gods may not be true faith, Yoshigami said with a smile.
“If they don’t believe in God but make a living by worshiping gods, these false believers will not be unjust even if they die.”
Akechi Mitsuhide faintly heard a hint of murderous intent in Yoshigan's tone and squinted her eyes. Just as she was about to say something else, Yoshigan pointed to the Hachimangu Shrine in the distance.
"Look, it seems to have started."
Akechi Mitsuhide and Hosokawa Fujitaka followed Yoshigage's fingers and looked at it. Hachiman Palace was already bustling, but Yoshigage's eyes were not focused on the distance, but were a little distracted.
He was silently opening the system interface, clicking on the special effect of Tianjuan Hongyan, opening the isthmus covering Tianwang Mountain and Nanshan Mountain within the scope of the system, and then... Lei Lei Lei Lei Lei Lei...
There was a faint strange sound in the sky, and the sky suddenly became much darker. Mitsuhide Akechi couldn't help but look up, feeling shocked in his heart.
The originally clear sky seemed to have been wiped with a rag, covering it with a bit of haze, making it look a little blurry. There were faint sounds of lightning and thunder from sudden storms and clouds.
On both sides of the Yodo River, on one side is the unobstructed Yamazaki Tenno Shrine, and on the other side are 108 high-erected lightning rods. The sudden dark clouds in the sky, flashing thunder, where will they hit?
———
Ishikimizu Hachimangu Shrine, side hall.
Ke'er Ji Chang gently knocked a few times, opened the sliding door, and bowed deeply.
In the quiet room, Ashikaga Yoshiaki sat on the main seat and closed his eyes to relax, and asked slowly.
"Has it started yet?"
"Hey, the priestess and shrine maiden have made preparations for the sacrificial ceremony. Ninagawa-sama and Hatakeyama-sama have also led the ministers to wait outside. I kindly ask Mr. Kokata to move over and preside over the ceremony."
Ashikaga Yoshiaki slowly opened his eyes and asked with a wry smile.
"Regards? Why are you respectful? Why are you inviting me?"
The wandering life of relying on others in recent years has left traces of time on Ashikaga Yoshiaki's face, and her demeanor is no longer as frivolous as it was back then.
It's just that it's not clear from her face whether she ever had any regrets in her heart.
I originally thought that General Ashikaga was a man of the world, and I thought that I had regained my freedom after leaving the control of Yoshigan Shiba and Nobunaga Oda.
But the truth was so cruel, it slapped Ashikaga Yoshiaki so hard that the Ashikaga General, who claimed to have noble blood, was so slapped that stars appeared in his eyes.