Pillars of the Wu family

This summer, when Echigo went out to Ueno and Shinano one after another, Nagao Jingxin, who stayed behind in Kasugayama Castle, had a happy son. Kunimatsu, Sukichi Nagao, and Ueda Nagao all gave birth to sons, which is also regarded as a sign of prosperity for the Nagao family.

A major incident also happened in Mino country not far from Shinano. In April this year, a serious military conflict broke out at Saito’s house in Mino country. Saito Yoshiryu and his father Saito Michizo turned against each other and killed him in the battle with Nagaragawa. Father, as the son-in-law, Oda Nobunaga tried to rescue him but failed, so he turned against his brother-in-law Saito Yoshiryu.

When this incident happened, the Kira family was disposing of the Ichigo people, and then there was a summer of war. After all, it had nothing to do with Kira Yoshitoshi, but he was a little surprised by the letter from Oda Nobunaga at the end of autumn. This Oda Saburo seems to regard him as a pen pal. Every spring and autumn, there are always two or three letters. From exchanging personal interests and hobbies to imagining the future, as well as everything in his own family, this time it involves his father-in-law The death of Saito Michizo.

The death of Saito Dozo is a representative of the wise and old age in the prime of life. The eldest son Saito Yoshiryu was born to the concubine Fukayoshino and was established as his son. He is quite similar to Saito Dozo in talent and wrist, but not as vicious as his father Love, so it is loved by the Saito family and the Mino people who surrendered.

Saito Michizo was a thief of the Mino country, and he did not have the right position. In his early years, he did everything he could to seize the Toki family's family business. He ascended to the position of the king and competed with the persevering Toki Yorii for more than ten years. The members of the Toki family were either co-opted or completely wiped out. In the past few years, they made peace with Takakage Asakura of Echizen and Nobuhide Oda of Owari, and only then did Yorii Toki, who had lost his support, be completely driven out.

But he also paid a heavy price for this. In order to deter the Mino people who resisted him, Saito Dozo used many brutal tortures, tied up all the warriors and family members who resisted him, and executed them according to his personal preference .The torture of the executions varied.

For example, the splitting of the cow is the punishment of splitting the car. The feet of the rebellious criminal warrior and his family members are tied with ropes, and then tied to the cow, and the cow is driven away with fire and whips. Forcing those he considers to be malicious people to watch, in order to achieve the purpose of shocking and showing off.

Pan frying is the punishment of cooking in oil. Criminals, warriors and their families were thrown into an oil pan and fried to death.Especially when he listened to the shrill screams and the fearful expressions of Mino people, he felt very fulfilled. Ishikawa Goemon was also executed by this kind of torture, which was inspired by Saito Dozo.

The last and most famous is the coir raincoat dance, in which the heavy coir raincoats are tied with ropes to criminals, warriors and their families, and then oil is poured on the coir raincoats to ignite them.In the raging fire, the whole body is wrapped up and can't move. You can only jump, jump or fall to the ground, rolling around and wailing. Saito Dozo called this kind of struggling movement called the coir raincoat dance. He likes watching the coir raincoat dance very much, because it is A dance only the dead can dance. [

Because his brutality and bloodthirsty made Mino people both fear and hate, they dared not resist the brutal Saito Dozo, so they gradually united under the banner of Saito Yoshiryu to keep warm, and Saito Yoshiryu was more willing to treat these Mino kindly Chinese.Gradually, amidst the brutal torture and blood terror, a large force gathered in Mino, that is Yoshiryu Saito.

In 1554, Saito Dozo realized that he had fewer and fewer cronies around him, and Saito Yoshiryu's prestige was getting higher and higher. As smart as he was, he immediately realized the seriousness of the situation, and immediately let the renunciate governor to live in seclusion and became a monk. The dharma title of three, if it continues to develop like this, it will be a rhythm to successfully complete the transfer of power.As a result, something went wrong.

Maybe it is really old and stupid. Saito Dozo, who retired, began to dote on his two young sons, Kiheiji and Sun Shiro. The old man tried his best to meet all the needs of these two young sons. The title of Right Hei Daisuke".

Because he is Saito Yoshiryu's younger brother, and their brother's mother, Fukayoshino, is Isshiki Yoshiki's daughter, so he used a noble name to decorate his family to show Dozo's love for Kiheiji.

But in this way.It is very unfair to Saito Yoshitaka. As the lord of Mino, Saito Yoshitaka feels that he has been insulted. The second son is Isshiki Youbei Daisuke, but he is still Saito Yoshitaka.It's fine if he doesn't have a good name, his reclusive father always talks about Xiheji and Sun Silang when he meets everyone, and mentions a key word "abandoned wife".

He can bear it just to spoil and get a name, but the only thing Yoshiryu Saito can't tolerate is the abolition of his wife. As Saito Michizo's preference for Kiheiji and Son Shiro has become more and more serious in the past two years, The sign of abolishing the prostitute is becoming more and more obvious, Saito Yoshiryu decided to do something.

One day at the beginning of November last year, Saito Yoshiryu suddenly fell ill in Inabayama Castle. According to the doctor, Saito Yoshiryu would die soon, and Saito Yoshiryu, who knew he was dying, asked to see him His two younger brothers, Nagai Michitoshi, who is deeply trusted by Saito Dozo, personally acted as messengers to let Kiheiji and Son Shiro relax their vigilance. When they heard that there was such a good thing, they hurried to Inabayama Castle To visit his seriously ill brother.

Seeing the burly elder brother Yoshiryu Saito for the first time, the two brothers were still a little afraid and worried, but when Yoshiryu Saito, who was dying of illness, gave instructions for the funeral and expressed his intention to pass on the position of governor of the family to Kiheiji, the two brothers immediately beamed with joy. Forgetting the vigilance and persuasion of the samurai, under the active persuasion of Saito Yoshitaka's favorite Hineno Hiroyuki, the two brothers put down their guard and sent the attendants away to drink and have fun. The two brothers drank happily until midnight.

Hineno Hiroshi, who had been drinking with Kiheiji and Sun Shiro until midnight, was not drunk. After confirming that the two brothers and their followers had relaxed their vigilance, he beheaded the two brothers Kiheiji and Sun Shiro with a sword on the spot. The sweet dream of the Lord went to hell.

Yoshiryu Saito, who was supposed to be seriously ill and bedridden, appeared outside the door at this time. He watched Hineno Hiroshi coldly execute the process of the two brothers. The attendants, together with the spies buried by his father in the city, were all executed, which also meant that the father and son had turned against each other ever since.

From the point of view of the method, Saito Yoshiryu executed the two younger brothers, which is almost the same as the method of Oda Nobunaga's execution of Oda Nobuyuki. The same method of feigning illness to attract hostile families, and they are also the heads of neighboring countries. The same contradiction happened, it has to be said that greed blinded their eyes and ruined their lives.

After murdering the two brothers, Saito Yoshiryu sent messengers to send the bodies of the two brothers to Saito Dosan.Knowing the whole story, Saito Michizo looked up to the sky and sighed deeply. Facing the assembly of Saito Yoshiryu's army, he immediately sent an envoy to his relative Akechi, son-in-law Oda Nobunaga, for help.

Saito Michizo didn't expect to play tricks and schemes all his life, but in the end he was tricked by his most trusted person. Nagai Michitoshi is his very special younger brother, who has always been responsible for delivering information on Inabayama Castle for him.But he never thought that this younger brother had already defected to Yoshilong Saito.

In other words, the entire Mino people basically turn to Saito Yoshitaka. They hate the cruel and shady Saito Dosan, his cow cracking, cauldron frying, and coir raincoat dance. Every time they watch their old friends being tortured to death At that time, the anger and anger in their hearts became more and more difficult to suppress.

The root of the disaster has already been planted, and Saito Dosan's defeat is a foregone conclusion.Because the heavy snow at the end of winter made it difficult to march, Saito Dozo did not dare to continue to lead in Lushan Castle, so he burned the castle and fled to Daisang Castle near the Nagara River. The patient Saito Yoshiryu decided to stand still and unify the internal front first, To deal with the turtle in the urn Saito Michizo. [

During this period, there was a rumor circulating in Mino that it was Fukayoshino who was Toki Yorimo's concubine back then.She was pregnant with Toki Yoshitaka's child and married Saito Dozo as a concubine, and that child was Saito Yoshiryu. In fact, the relevant legend prototype has long existed. The big man dominates the audience wherever he goes. Saito Dozo is only 1.7 meters tall. No matter how you look at it, the father and son don't match. It is said that Saito Dozo doesn't like Saito Yoshiryu for this reason.

For this rumor.Saito Yoshiryu did not come forward to confirm it, because his big man has been suppressed and feared by his father for many years, but now he has become his amulet because of a blessing in disguise, so he is also happy to be fanned by him. After all, killing his father is disobedient and unfilial Serious crimes and atrocities, it would be different if his own father was Toki Raiyun, and he could also use this method to strengthen the legal ruling status of the Lord of Mino.

In April this year, the ice and snow melted and the spring sowing ended.Saito Yoshiryu led an army of [-] to Dasang City. On April [-], Saito Dozo and Yueheshan formed an army. The wise family did not dare to send troops because of the unknown situation.On the other side, because the winter snow on the Hida Mountains melted and the river swelled, Oda Nobunaga, who was a guest army, did not dare to go deep alone. He could only go in the relatively distant Kiso River, Toshima near the Hida River, and near Tozobo. formation.

Saito Dosan did not expect Saito Yoshiryu to gather so many troops, seeing how bitter and desolate he felt when he saw that he only had [-] loyal troops. The vanguard general of the Saito Army, Takeyao Michizane, took the lead and rushed to the front. Saito Dozo had to send his banner team to repel the Takeyao team.

General Nagaya Jinemon of the Saito Yoshiryu Army sent out a challenge of Ichiki, and Saito Michi's army Shibata Kakuuchi challenged. Both sides chose to launch a surprise attack at the time of Ichiki at the same time. Even the elite of the Kira family would not dare to do this, not to mention Yoshiryu Saito leading the army, with a group of angry Mino people as the main force, and Michi Saito's army was doomed before the war started.

Soon Saito Michio's army was outnumbered and retreated to the bank of the Nagara River. Watching the torrential river rushing away behind him, Saito Michio knew that he had nowhere to escape. The hundreds of defeated soldiers desperately resisted. Fuji Dosan was still fighting bravely. He roared loudly and scolded Saito Yoshiryu for being ungrateful, and tried his best to resist the attack of Saito Yoshiryu's army. He knew very well in his heart that there was no way out of this battle.

Just at this moment, Genta Xiao Mu came out from the side, this old acquaintance of Saito Yoshiryu shouted, stabbed Saito Dosan's calf, taking advantage of the time when the old man staggered and fell, he took up the knife and cut it down. His leader, the fate of a generation of tyrants, ended here. Oda Nobunaga, who was watching from the sidelines, could only return to Qingzhou City with a stern face and three thousand troops, vowing in his heart to wash away this shame.

In the letter from Oda Nobunaga, he vowed that he must capture Mino to avenge his father-in-law. Kira Yoshishi also understood his thoughts. A proud young daimyo saw his father-in-law beheaded by his brother-in-law right under his nose. However, his own strength is too weak for others to eat meat, so he can only run around in a desperate manner, which is really useless.

As for avenging his father-in-law because his father-in-law was very kind to him, don't think too much about it. How can such a big name have such deep feelings? Saito Michizo, a little son-in-law who doesn't go to Yin, is very kind, don't think about it He must have coveted Mino's territory to avenge his father-in-law.

When Kira Yoshihito replied casually, he was assassinated until Ichikui did not write about it at all, especially emphasizing the harm of Ichikui and the riots he had encountered in Tsushima with monks of Yiyijikui.Let him be careful of Owari's Nagashima Ichiko, and Mikawa's Ichiko.

"I'm just reminding you, it's up to you whether you can understand it or not." Yoshihiro Kira folded the letter paper and handed it to Xiao Xing, pasted it with a lacquer seal and mailed it to Owari.

In addition to acting as a mouthpiece for Oda Nobunaga to vent his personal emotions, there is also a piece of news from Kyoto, that is, at the beginning of this year, the shogun Ashikaga Yoshiki suddenly wanted to make a plan to rebuild Kyoto, mainly to repair the entire Kyoto Towns, streets and some public facilities.By the way, there are also his Nijo Imperial Palace and the Ouchi of the Imperial Palace.

As soon as this plan was put forward, it was warmly welcomed by people from all walks of life in Kyoto. Within two months, 1000 guanwen of money from Yongle was raised and the construction started smoothly. Sanhewu received this large order worth [-] guanwen. More than [-] skilled craftsmen in Omi and the idle population in Kyoto cooperated to complete this project.

In the process of construction, many new towns were expanded, especially some dilapidated and abandoned old towns near Ukyo were demolished and rebuilt, but this money is not to mention the grand goal of "reconstruction".Because the price of goods in Kyoto is too expensive, the Sanhe clay used by Kira's family is not for nothing, and the cost of artificial materials alone is not cheap.

The overall expansion and reinforcement of the Nijo Imperial Palace requires [-] guan, mainly to expand several sets of supporting buildings and add new buildings such as the West Imperial Palace, Diaoqiu Pavilion, and Nanhuayuan. The requirements of the shogunate are very high.The three-story city wall of stone wall, sanhe soil, and lime must be two and a half high. The three-story main castle can ensure that Ashikaga Yoshiki can stand on the terrace and overlook the entire Kyoto city.

The dilapidated palace in Ouchi needs 1 guan to repair. The Ouchi where the emperor lived has been dilapidated for hundreds of years. Many palaces are more dilapidated than ruined temples. Some palace weeds in the palace can cover the thighs. The repair cost is so expensive. As soon as Ashikaga Yoshiki gritted his teeth, he would simply do it to the end, and spend a little more money as a good sale.

It's just that with [-] guan, there are only [-] guan left.Even if the castle town is rebuilt, it will not cost a lot of money. We can only slow down the construction speed while trying to figure out a way. Therefore, in the summer, Ashikaga Yoshiki wrote to the daimyo from all over the country to ask for a share of royal money for the construction of Kyoto.

It happened to be a war at that time, and after receiving the news from Shinano, Yoshitoki Kira just issued an order, ordering Sakamoto's money house to allocate [-] pieces of Yongle money to pay for the shogunate.Paying more for this prestige-enhancing cause can do no harm.

Everyone knew that the Kira family was very rich. If it wasn't for the shogun's displeasure, it would be fine for the Kira family to contract all the expenses. Anyway, Sanheya took over the construction project.The Kira family donated [-] crowns of Yongle money, of which [-] crowns flowed directly back into the pockets of the Kira family as pure profit.

The preliminary estimate of the project will take about a year and a half. It started in March and was basically completed at the end of winter after day and night construction. Hui also received the emperor's blown praise for this performance.

Time flies and a year has passed, and the first month of the third year of Hongzhi (1557) has arrived. At the beginning of this year, the imperial court conveyed the list of promotions for the new year. The minister who ascended to the top has another name, so he is honored as Minister Kuzeyou. This honor is the same as his ancestor Kugatotsu, which is also a unique honor.

As the second son of the Konoe family, he was adopted as the heir of the Kuga family when he was just one year old. He witnessed the successive decline of the imperial court and the shogunate. Today, the emperor was reduced to selling paintings for a living, and the ministers went to the streets to sell vegetables. When he thought that the troubled times would continue, and he would stay in the position of the two powers forever, fate made another joke.

The shogunate glowed with new vitality, and the imperial court followed suit. However, within a few years, he had rocketed to become a minister of the right. The improved status made him more confident in the future, and it gradually faded away. When life was difficult in the early years, he decided to escape into Buddhism. idea.

His son Kuga Totsuken was the same age as Kira Yoshitoki, and this winter, he was promoted to the Three Great Powers, and succeeded his father as the elder of Genji. This family fully embodies a noble family.

For a long time, my family is considered to be the main minister close to the Kira family, but this is far from the best news. The most pleasant surprise for Kira Yoshishi is that his uncle Nakainori finally crossed the threshold that has not moved for a long time, and was promoted to the second rank Powerful Nayan, for a minister who was born in a minister's family.It is not easy to advance to this step.

As Kira Yoshitoki's uncle, Zhongyuan Tongwei was not a public official in the ordinary sense. He lamented that the Spring and Autumn Period was not the main job of reciting poems and paintings. From the beginning, the lieutenant general has been doing what he can for the shogunate.

In March of the sixth year of Tianwen (1537), the acting official of the shogunate at Kagakuta Farm.The Asahi clan, a local citizen, defaulted on the tax payment to the shogunate’s imperial office and caused a land lawsuit. In order to handle the lawsuit with Kaga in June, the middle court took charge of it. He stayed in the harsh environment of Kaga for three years and worked hard. Help the shogunate regain the power of Ertianzhuang.

Later, because of being excluded by the local Chinese, repeated disturbances by the local Ichizo followers, and the refusal of the Asahi family to cooperate, the middle court resigned from office in a fit of anger and returned to Kyoto to stay behind closed doors.It wasn't until the next year that the imperial court and the shogunate reactivated him, and he was re-appointed as one of the three counselor left lieutenant generals.

As the only minister in the entire imperial court who has been fighting against the people of Kaga Ichimune for three years, he has become the absolute authority in dealing with land disputes. Every time the imperial court and the shogunate encounter land disputes, they will come to him for advice. The Yamashiro State, the Omi Domestic Court, and the Shogunate Imperial Office cooperated and successfully recovered part of the tribute in arrears.

Based on this achievement, in the 11th year of Tianwen (1542), in the third month of leap, he was promoted to Nayan, the three powers in Zhengzhou.In the 12th year of Tianwen (1543), he served concurrently as a servant in March. In November of that year, he confronted the lord Izumi Yajiro, who was in arrears with the annual tribute in Kaga, and Kaga again in the summer of that year.

Back then, Tongwei’s tough strategy of dividing and confiscating the land that had been owed for decades in tribute was met with strong retaliation by the people of Kaga, who had always attacked him and forced him to flee Kaga, but Tongwei insisted. If you don't leave, you will be able to calm down the people of Yixiangzong.

In May of the 15th year of Tianwen (1546), the shogunate finally couldn't support it, and issued a security blockade to the land of Kagage Farm. As a last resort, the middle court had to pack up and return to Kyoto.Relying on his merits, he was promoted two years later to the three main powers, Nayan, and then Kira Yoshitoshi Shangluo, which made him give up his plan to continue to entangle in Kaga.

Another piece of news is that his cousin, Zhongyuan Tong, relayed that the three powers in the middle, Nayan, Zuo Jinwei Lieutenant General Ruyuan, and his younger brother, Gang Yuanfu, Zhongyuan Tong, died of illness two years ago. There is a shadow, the second brother, who is only two years old, is adopted by Uncle Bai Chuan Wang's family as an adopted son, and the current family governor is Bai Chuan Masayoshi, who is nearly seventy years old.Also known as the King of Yaye, Xu Guanzheng, the two counselors, and the uncle of the gods.

This family is from the lineage of Prince Kiyohito, the son of Emperor Huashan, and his son, King Noshin, is the first ancestor of Kaimai, who served as the official minister of the ancient gods.As the founder of the Hakka Shinto family as a royal priest, also known as Shirakawa-ryu Shinto, the Nakain family is also considered prominent.

Last summer, Kira Yoshitoki's aunt Yoshiodai gave birth to another son, and it has been confirmed that he will be adopted by the Rokujo family. child.

In addition, the imperial court also appointed five servants for the Namioka Takabo Nobuo. This is the official position that Kira Yoshitoshi personally wrote, and was taken under the operation of Kuga Harutsu and the middle court. The successful appellation of the Langgang Tanfang is also the beginning of his journey to become a public minister.

Relying on the praise of the emperor, Ashikaga Yoshiki caught up with the last train to be promoted at the beginning of this year. He was promoted to the two Gondai Nagon and General Ukonoe, and they are working hard to move towards the direction of the elder Genji. With the support of Yoshitoki Kira, my family and the Nakain family have fully revived, and there is no hope for the elder Genji in the short term.

This year's Zhengdan court meeting, except for the people of Echigo, people from Shinano and Ueno offered congratulatory gifts one after another. Relatives such as Oo, Nagano clan, Obata clan, Numata clan, Yura clan and other powerful national governors or one family also went to the castle in person to congratulate.

In the past, the quiet and peaceful Kasuga Mountain City was suddenly crowded with thousands of people, and the accompanying messengers looked curiously at the neat streets and pedestrians coming and going in Echigo. They were surprised to find that although they were in a white world of ice and snow, In the middle of the day, the pedestrians on the road were enthusiastically clearing the snow on the road.

Holding the pocket-size Ashikaga Nihiri flag, the young children swished through the crowd and disappeared into the street corner. Hearing them chanting slogans about samurai destroying the bad guys, they realized that it turned out to be a different scene.

The accompanying envoys grouped in small groups, or flocked to the castle town and Naoetsu town to make purchases. For the samurai who seldom go out, this mission is a good opportunity for self-serving public affairs, and they will turn over their old background and owe it again. The next ass of foreign debt came to Echigo, in order to buy more goods here, and when I returned home after the end of Zhengdan, I could make a fortune.

Different from the samurai rushing to the shop, Nagano Yegu and Kobata Nobusada wandered around with more than a dozen Chinese envoys from Ueno and Shinano. They haven't decided what to buy yet, looking around like a villager. Peasant warriors, but they don't care about the strange eyes of those pedestrians.

"I haven't seen you for more than a year, and there is a big change in the future. People seem to be getting richer and richer. What method can be used to do all this? Zhenfudian is really a mysterious man." All Nagano Yegu Thinkingly, he looked at the Bell and Drum Tower in the middle of the horizontal and vertical street.

He can be sure that it was built only in recent years, because there was no such bell and drum tower before he left. A bronze bell hangs from the top of the tower with a pair of huge Ashikaga two flags, and the bell rings to tell the time from the first time after the sun rises.

When the bell rings at dawn, people get up and leave their homes to start a day's work. Until the last bell rings before the sun goes down, people return home after a day's work. The news is that Echigo has limited working time to the bell. Inside, the rule of working at sunrise and resting at sunset is quantified by the sound of bells, and working for several hours a day gradually enters people's lives.

"Six days off every day, the working time should not exceed five hours. Children who are five years old in the town must receive at least three years of basic education. It is said that Xincun is also doing it. What a big deal!" Nobuzhen Kobata exclaimed.

A Shinano samurai who was traveling with him came over and said: "I heard that the withdrawal and merger of new villages in the whole territory of Echigo has been completed. More than 35 castles and 3000 branch cities have been demolished. None of the new villages after withdrawal and merger has less than [-] people. This tax and service statistics are much easier.”

"It's not just like that!" Although he didn't know Yoshitoki Kira's thoughts, Nagano Yegu still felt that it was not that simple: "It is said that the plan is to establish a house number system, a household registration system and determine occupational categories! I just don't know what the Zhenfudian will do .”

Another samurai heard the discussion and leaned over and interjected: "Hey! Have you heard? Echigo will reform the taxation system, abolish the previous miscellaneous taxes, change land money into business tax and set it at [-]%, Subsidy money is turned into tariffs, and [-]% to [-]% is levied on trade products entering and leaving the port, and the specific trade product taxes will be publicized by the Kira family!"

"One cent of the tariff? Then what else can you get? [-]% of the tariff is too much no matter what!" The group of warriors gradually gathered around the corner, exchanging their knowledge along the way.

"Exactly! Who knows what tricks Kira's family is up to."

"Hush! Keep your voice down, you don't want to live!"

Nagano Yegu and Kobata Nobusada looked at each other, tacitly avoided the crowd, squeezed into the rushing crowd, but disappeared after a while.