Great name!

Chapter 268: A Crowded, New Year's Farce

The fourth year of Tensho was naturally not as prosperous as the third year of Tensho for the Oda clan. In this year, the Oda clan suffered two major defeats, but this did not affect the Oda clan's dominant position in the capital.

Now the fourth year of Tensho is about to pass and the fifth year of Tensho is about to come.

Oda Nobunaga decided to hold a New Year's meeting in his residence in Azuchi Castle.

Although the current head of the Oda clan is Oda Nobutada, everyone knows that Nobunaga is the one who makes the decisions in the Oda clan.

As the New Year approached, retainers of the Oda family came to Azuchi Castle one after another. There was also an endless stream of lords and envoys coming to celebrate with Oda Nobunaga, which made Azuchi Castle lively.

However, when the New Year's meeting really started, the bustling scene now was in front of the gates of several heavyweight elders of the Oda family.

Especially Tsuda Nobutora, the courtyard where he lived was always crowded with people, and the queue was so long that it even extended to the Honmaru.

Although everyone was waiting, no one complained.

Because you can queue up to enter the Tsuda family, that is because the Tsuda family gives you face. Some people don’t even have the qualifications to send a visiting card to the Tsuda family.

So everyone cherishes this opportunity. It doesn’t matter even if they have to wait for a day in vain. At worst, they can just not leave and wait until tomorrow.

Generally speaking, those samurai who only had a salary could only see the retainers under Nobutora. Even so, these people did not dare to neglect them. They had to give some gifts to the retainers of the Tsuda family and let the adult mention Tsuda Nobutora in front of him.

As long as Tsuda Shintora can remember my name, I will be lucky.

Just like the Sada family who are at the end of the queue now, their relative the Sagawa family did just that, and was remembered by Lord Tsuda Kyōjo-in. During the war last year, they were incorporated into the Tsuda army, and ended up killing a Takeda family general, making great contributions. They were promoted from samurai general to the commander of a castle, which made him very envious.

If that drunk guy Sagawa hadn't said that to him, he would have had to wait for his seniority.

Sada stamped his feet. No matter how cold the weather was, his heart would be filled with warmth as long as he thought of Sagawa's experience.

It’s a pity that there are too many warriors more noble than him in front of this long team.

Before the Sada stage, there were the lords of small towns such as Sagawa, and they were received by Tsuda Naganobu.

This treatment alone is enough for them to brag about.

And above them are the princes.

Just like now, Hosokawa Fujitaka has just visited Nobutora, and he is thinking about marrying Nobutora and marrying his daughter to Nobutora's second son.

Nobutora's second son, Shinjiro, is thirteen or fourteen years old and can indeed start a family.

However, Nobutora did not give a clear answer.

The current Hosokawa family is not qualified to become Thaksinatora's in-laws.

However, Nobutora did show some goodwill, which was that after Hosokawa Fujitaka's son Kumachiyo came of age, he could work for him.

This Kuma Chiyo was the future Hosokawa Tadaoki, and his wife was Tamako, the daughter of Akechi Mitsuhide.

Hosokawa Fujitaka was very grateful for this kind gesture. He expressed his gratitude repeatedly and then presented a valuable gift worth three thousand kan.

He was not worried at all that Tsuda Shingen would go back on his word, because the reputation of the Tsuda family was much more valuable than these 3,000 kan.

After Hosokawa Fujitaka, there was Araki Murashige, the lord of Arioka Castle.

This man was a local lord who governed the country of Settsu on behalf of the Oda clan.

But later he betrayed Nobunaga and died a miserable death, especially his beautiful wife.

Although he was the local emperor in Settsu Province and had the final say, he still had to bow respectfully in front of Tsuda Nobutora.

Araki Murashige is a big man with a beard, sparkling eyes, sharp eyebrows and handsome looks. He speaks loudly and laughs heartily. Even when he is flattering Xinhu, he does not seem fawning.

This time, Araki Murashige came to visit Tsuda Nobutora because of the matter of Honganji Temple.

Araki Murashige did not have any outstanding achievements in the battle at Honganji Temple, and Nobunaga had already written a letter to scold him. Now, the New Year's meeting was held, and Nobunaga sent someone to tell him that he must come to Azuchi Castle, which made him a little uneasy.

He knew that Tsuda Nobutora was the most important elder in the Oda family, so he came to visit Tsuda Nobutora, hoping that he could help him when the time came.

Araki Murashige hesitated for a while and still didn't tell him his purpose. Nobutora was getting impatient. He had met a lot of people in the past few days and would meet a lot more in the future, so he asked directly: "Mr. Araki, if you have any difficulties that you want me to do, just tell me directly."

Araki Murashige smiled awkwardly, and then said: "It's nothing, actually. This matter should be a small matter for Lord Jingzhao Yin.

Lord Jingzhao Yin also knows that I was also involved in the war with Honganji. I had not achieved any results before. Azuchi-dono had already written a letter to scold me. This time he specifically asked me to come to Azuchi Castle. I am very worried. I don’t know how Azuchi-dono will deal with me. "

When Nobutora heard about this, he said, "Based on my understanding of Azuchi-dono, the worst case scenario of asking you to come to Azuchi this time is that I will just beat you up in front of you, and it won't be a big deal.

If Azuchi-dono wanted to deal with you, he wouldn't have asked you to come to Azuchi Castle."

Araki Murashige breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Was the blow severe?"

Nobutora looked at Araki Murashige and said, "When the time comes, Lord Araki will scream a little more miserably. At most, I will beat you until your head is bloody and you have to lie in bed for a day or two."

Araki Murashige felt embarrassed to hear the sound of people screaming and crying while being beaten in public, but this was much better than the consequences he had imagined.

Although Nobutora did not explicitly say whether he would help or not, just based on the little information Nobutora provided, it was worth it this time.

He quickly bowed respectfully and then left.

Xinhu spread his legs and asked, "How many more do you have today?"

Tsurusaki Naoki outside the door replied, "Reporting to the master of the family, there are three others, Ataka-sama, Miyoshi-sama and others."

Xinhu sighed. It was not a good thing to be too famous. He would meet endless people during holidays.

He waved his hand and said, "I'll take a break first."

"what!"

Tsurusaki Naoshige immediately sent someone to notify them.

……

Time passed quickly, New Year's Eve was over, and all that was left was the even more lively first day of the first lunar month of the sixth year of Tensho as soon as the sun rose.

Everyone stayed up all night to celebrate the New Year and have fun. As they had to attend the New Year party early the next morning, many people did not sleep at all.

However, Xinhu is so old that he went to rest after the New Year's Eve.

Before dawn, Nobutora was awakened. With the help of maids, he put on new clothes and went to Hiroma to wait for the meeting to begin.

Nobutora did not arrive early. At this time, the courtyard outside Hiroma was already filled with other generals. As for Hiroma, those under the patriarchs such as Sasa Narimasa and Maeda Toshiie had already arrived.

As for the seat of the family elders at the front, there were also quite a few people sitting there. Nobutora walked straight to his seat and yawned.

Niwa Nagahide, who was standing by, said with a smile, "Lord Jingzhao Yin is in great spirits. Did you not sleep all night?"

Nobutora said with a smile: "Master Niwa, you are joking. If this happened 20 years ago, I would have been able to endure not sleeping for three days, let alone one night.

But now, I am already in my forties, with gray hair on my temples, and I no longer have the energy I had when I was young. After celebrating the New Year, I will take a rest.”

Niwa Nagahide smiled and talked about the past. Perhaps everyone was getting older and liked to reminisce about their youthful days.

They chatted for a while, and then Mori Ranmaru gave a call. Everyone immediately sat down, waited for Oda Nobunaga and Nobutada to come in, and then saluted.

This time, Guidie also followed in and sat half a step behind Nobunaga.

Nobunaga waved his hand and said, "Let's begin."

According to the process, Nobutora was the first to wish Nobunaga a happy new year.

However, this time it was not Nobutora who took the lead, but Nobunaga's brothers and sisters also came in one by one to congratulate Nobunaga.

At this time, Shibata Katsuie and Hashiba Hideyoshi were staring at the woman at the door. It was Aichi, who came with her three daughters to wish Nobunaga a happy New Year.

Although Aichi is already 30 years old this year, there seems to be no signs of aging on her face and her figure has not changed. She looks like a young woman in her early twenties.

Even though there was no expression on Aichi's face, this cold face was enough to make Hashiba Hideyoshi and Shibata Katsuie fall in love with her.

In their eyes, there is only one sentence: What an ice beauty!
Aichi walked in slowly with Chacha, Achu and Ajiang, sat down, bowed, and congratulated Nobunaga on the New Year.

Nobunaga smiled and said, "No need to be polite, Chacha, Achu, Ajiang, come here quickly, your uncle will give you some money for the evil spirits."

The name and purpose of red envelopes vary in different historical periods. In the Han Dynasty, red envelopes were called purses and were mainly used to hold valuables such as gold, silver, and jewelry.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, New Year's money was mostly made of colorful ropes woven into the shape of a dragon and placed at the foot of the bed. This form of New Year's money was called "money to ward off evil spirits."

Nobunaga took out a few purses tied with colorful ropes, which contained a few small gold pieces. The youngest, Ajiang, had already stood up and ran to Nobunaga to take the talisman money and express his gratitude.

Cha Cha looked at her mother, while A Chu wanted to grab her sister but failed. Now he lowered his head in panic.

A Shi nodded to Cha Cha, and Cha Cha then pulled A Chu forward to take the money for warding off evil spirits.

After the children took the money for warding off evil spirits, he said to A-ichi, "When Azuchi Castle is completed, you can move from the letter bag to live in Azuchi Castle."

Oda Nobuhiro was Nobunaga's younger brother and Aichi's older brother. His territory was between Tsuda Nobutora and Takigawa Ikmasu.

After the Asai family was destroyed, although Aichi returned to the Oda family, he lived in Oda Nobuharu's territory with his daughters because he was angry that his brother killed Asai Nagamasa's son.

Nobunaga probably felt that what he did was not kind, so he did not care about his sister's willfulness.

Faced with his brother's order, Ah Shi had no choice but to say, "Ha, when the time comes, just ask my brother to send someone over."

Nobunaga looked directly at Nobutora and said, "Nobutora, you will send Aichi off when the time comes."

Nobutora smiled and said, "Don't worry, Lord Nobunaga, I will definitely send Madam Odani to safety."

When Shibata Katsuie and Hashiba Hideyoshi below heard this, they were so angry that their teeth were about to break. If Nobunaga had not given the order, they would have definitely tried their best to complete this task.

After the episode with Aichi, the process returned to normal, and Nobutora took the lead in congratulating Nobunaga on the New Year.

After completing this process, it was almost noon.

Nobunaga waved his hand impatiently and said, "The banquet begins!"

The maids in the city immediately began to serve food. Don't underestimate these maids, they are all from the lower-ranking samurai families of the Oda family, and are considered ladies from noble families in the eyes of the foot soldiers and the common people.

Don't underestimate the position of a maid. Those foot soldiers and small-time samurai fought hard for such a position.

Moreover, these maids are in great demand in the lower-class martial arts circles. Everyone is vying to marry one, and who knows, one day the whole family may prosper just because their wife marries the right lady.

Nobutora had no time to look at those beautiful maids. At his age, he was already a little dissatisfied. Besides, he had no shortage of women. As long as he wanted, his retainers and subordinates would compete to send their daughters to his bed.

He stared at the wine and food brought by the maids. Seeing that Nobunaga had already picked up his chopsticks, he picked up the food and stuffed it into his mouth without hesitation. He was really hungry now.

During the banquet, Hashiba Hideyoshi started to act as a clown to liven up the atmosphere. He kept dancing clumsily and made Nobunaga laugh.

However, Aichi was staring at Hashiba Hideyoshi at the table. More than three years had passed, and she could not forget that her husband Asai Nagamasa had his head chopped off by this funny monkey in front of her!
Cha Cha and A Chu both had stern faces, but A Jiang, who was unaware of the situation, was clapping his hands and laughing.

When Hashiba Hideyoshi, who was dancing in the middle of the dance, saw Miss Aichi looking at him, he was overjoyed. He danced more vigorously and sang more happily.

Shibata Katsuie thought that Aichi was really attracted by the monkey's dance, which made him very unhappy with the monkey's behavior. He smashed the wine glass on the table and shouted: "Monkey, you are too noisy!"

Hashiba Hideyoshi was very dissatisfied when he heard this. This reckless man was too arrogant. I, Hashiba Hideyoshi, am not the same person I used to be!

I feel like I can’t embarrass myself in front of Miss Aichi!
"Master Shibata, you can't call me a monkey, you should call me Master Hashiba or Master Chikuzen!"

Hideyoshi Hashiba bulged his eyes and shouted angrily.

When Shibata Katsuie heard this, he threw his head back and laughed as if he had heard a joke.

"Hahaha, you monkey, you actually talk to me like this now?"

Shibata Katsuie's face changed again, and he shouted, "Have you forgotten who you are? You were just a servant who warmed Lord Nobunaga's shoes!"

Hashiba Hideyoshi gnashed his teeth and said, "That was in the past! Now I am Hashiba Chikuzen-no-kami Hideyoshi, the lord of Nagahama Castle, and the 120,000-koku daimyo!"

Shibata Katsuie sneered: "Oh, so what? In my eyes, you are just a monkey."

Xinzhong frowned and said, "That's enough. How can this be allowed?"

After Oda Nobutada spoke, Shibata Katsuie didn't know what to say, and Hashiba Hideyoshi also stopped and sat back.

However, Aichi picked up the fan to cover her face, with the corners of her mouth slightly raised, and she was in a very happy mood. This scene happened to be seen by Shibata Katsuie, which made Shibata Katsuie feel a little excited.

So humiliating the monkey can make Miss Aichi happy?

That's great!

Aichi's smile gave Shibata Katsuie motivation.

Nobunaga watched this farce and raised his glass, saying, "Keep drinking, don't stop."

(End of this chapter)