A tour of Japan's Warring States Period

The hour hand moves to two months ago!

Asai Nagamasa returned to Odani Castle from Gifu, and in accordance with his promise to Oda Nobunaga, he issued an order to Jiangbei's wealthy families to gather at Odani Castle from the end of February to early March next year and send 10,000 troops to help his uncle Oda Nobunaga to attack Miyoshi. The orders of the trio.

Naturally, the Jiangbei wealthy families, led by Akao Kiyozuna, expressed considerable dissatisfaction with this matter. A few months ago, Oda Nobunaga was provided with a large number of laborers to go to Luoyang to build the Nijo Imperial Palace. The people were already exhausted, and now they had to send troops to help in the battle.

Of the two counties promised when we went to Luo, we only got one in the end. How could this new territory be enough for everyone to share. Forget it, at least you can see the meat. Although the portion is not much, at least the rain and dew are equally distributed. But then Oda Nobunaga was really endless. Today he will help in the battle, and tomorrow he will be a slave.

The wealthy families in Jiangbei felt hurt!

But since Asai Nagamasa has spoken, we can't afford to offend Oda Nobunaga now, so we should keep our heads down for the time being and continue to follow suit. What can be done? Oda Nobunaga's arms are thicker than the waists of all of us in Jiangbei combined.

There are more than ten thousand of them, which is not enough for Oda Nobunaga to fill his teeth. No one will do anything like hitting a stone with an egg, and whoever does it is a fool.

"Your Highness, someone wants to see you!" A servant came into the palace to report.

Before Asai Nagamasa could reply, the man strode in unexpectedly. The white snow outside reflected the light and shone on the man's calm face.

"It turns out to be Shikibu! Please sit down!" After seeing the person clearly, Asai Nagamasa did not expel the guest, nor did he blame the attendants guarding the door, but asked the person to sit down.

"Greetings to Bizen-den!" The man did not avoid suspicion, walked to the opposite side of Asai Nagamasa, and bowed.

He ordered all the attendants who were nearby to exit the room and closed the barrier door. Only these two men were left in the whole room.

"At this moment, if Shikibu is here to ask for a cup of hot wine, then you are more than welcome. As for the rest, there is no need to mention it!"

"Hahahahaha, I want to drink His Highness Bizen Mamoru's hot wine, and I also want to tell His Highness the way to save yourself!" The visitor laughed and touched the beard on his lips.

"I, the Asai clan, are as safe as Mount Tai, why do I need to be saved? Shikibu doesn't need to be so arrogant!"

"Yesterday, we fought in Nafu. Today we are deploying troops. I'm afraid I won't be ordering Xiaogu to go to the north of the Yangtze River tomorrow." The visitor turned around and pointed outside the door, pointing up and down Xiaogu City.

"..."

Silent, Asai Nagamasa stopped answering. What the visitor said was not what he was concerned about. Oda Nobunaga's demands on the Asai clan became more frequent and more unabashed. Although Asai Nagamasa was the guardian of Jiangbei, he was almost the same as a subordinate in front of Oda Nobunaga.

"Bizen-den, please think twice!" The visitor shouted loudly and beat the floor.

"..." Asai Nagamasa still didn't answer.

Seeing the endless entanglement in Asai Nagamasa's heart, the visitor knew that there was no need to say more. Asai Nagamasa had difficulty making up his mind immediately and needed more help.

"Come on down and come back!" The visitor left without hesitation.

Asai Nagamasa opened his mouth to stop him, but made no sound. He stood up and chased a few steps forward, and saw the person striding out of Honmaru Palace without looking back.

Heavy snow is falling in Jiangbei, and the snow is already 20 to 30 centimeters thick. Even if the roads in Xiaogu City are cleaned, they will be covered again soon. In addition, Jiangbei faces the cold wind brought by the Siberian cold air mass, and the falling snow curls and dances.

Only the man's footprints were left on the white street, and they soon disappeared again.

Outside Hisamasa Asai's residence at the Kyogoku Maruikan in Kotani Castle, Yasuo Asai was preparing to turn off the lights and help Hisamasa Asai to sleep. It was already dark, and there were no leisure activities on winter nights.

Just as he was about to close the door, he saw a man standing respectfully in the snow, asking to see Asai Hisamasa.

"Please report this to Zhu Sheng Hall for me!"

"I wonder who your lord is?"

"This is Dobashi Shikibu Daisuke Keijing!" The visitor spoke warmly.

Asai Yasuo's expression changed drastically. Asakura Kagekage was an important minister of the Echizen Asakura clan and Ono County Secretary. Such a general must have great connections when he came to Kotani Castle.

After saying wait a moment, Asai immediately turned around and went inside to report, but Asai Hisamasa's reply was that he had already fallen asleep, and the head of the Asai family at the moment was Asai Nagamasa. If you have anything important, you can go directly to Honmaru and ask to see Asai Nagamasa.

Asakura Jingjing was neither anxious nor angry, and asked Asai Yuan to return the favor and ask Asai Hisamasa to have a good rest. He could wait at the door until Asai Hisamasa gets up to see him again tomorrow.

The night is getting colder and the wind and snow are getting worse!

Neither Asai Nagamasa nor Asai Hisamasa from the Honmaru and Kyogoku Maru were asleep. They were sitting quietly in front of the candlelight. Neither of them felt sleepy at the moment. They are all deep in thought and looking at Asakura Jingjing's determination.

Not long after, Asakura Jingjing, who was waiting quietly in the snow, turned into a snowman, and the heavy snow soon turned his body white. But Asakura Jingjing didn't move at all, still standing quietly in front of the door, waiting for Asai Hisamasa's summons.

It was so cold that even walking outside in thick clothes could feel the biting coldness, but Asakura Jingjing had been standing like this for a full hour.

"Shikibu hasn't left yet?" Asai Nagamasa and Asai Hisamasa were in different places, but they asked the same question.

"No!"

At dawn the next day, Asakura Kagekage had been standing in the ice and snow for six full hours. He still stood at the door of Kyogoku Maru Asai Hisamasa Hall, blending in with the white surrounding snow.

In fact, Asai Hisamasa didn't sleep all night, and had been watching at the door, hoping that Asakura Jingjing would retreat in the face of difficulties. As a result, Asakura Jingjing's will was so strong that she stood outside the door all night.

Akao Kiyosuna in Kotani Castle had long known about this, and it was precisely because of his help that Asakura Kagekage was able to directly enter the Honmaru residence of Asai Nagamasa. He himself was hesitating, but now that he saw Asakura Jingjing like this, he finally made up his mind.

Akao Kiyosuna, the head of the household, quietly entered Kyogoku Maru and met with the previous household governor Asai Hisamasa. Although it was Akao Kiyosuna who led a group of retainers to force Asai Hisamasa back, there didn't seem to be too much smoke between the two.

"Have you decided to do this?" Hisamasa Asai sat on the couch and said nothing.

"The matter has come to this, the only way to survive is to die!" Akao Kiyosuna fell to the ground and bowed down to Asai Hisamasa.

"knew!"

"Please come in and meet Shikibu!" Asai Hisamasa ordered Asai Yuan, who had been standing by.

At this moment, Asakura Keikai had been standing in front of the Kyogoku Marui Hall for eight hours. He finally impressed Hisama Asai and was able to enter the Kyogoku Marui Hall and meet Hisama Asai in person. His speech was amazing!

(According to the author's recollection, this matter should be recorded in the Asai Sandaiki. I am neutral and cannot guarantee its authenticity.)