Chapter 91 Section five

"Oh my god, my lord... Nobunaga lord, you are really gone..." After Hideyoshi confirmed the news of Nobunaga's death from the envoy sent by Hasegawa Souhito, he immediately burst into tears, and the appearance of howling almost scared the people around him. Some people even thought that he was insane because of his grief. Only Hidecho Koichiro pretended to hold back the tears, while observing the brilliant acting skills and motives hidden behind his brother's actions.He knew that Hideyoshi wanted to show his sincerity through the performance of mourning, and at the same time gather the centripetal force of Hashiba's troops, and set himself up as "a righteous teacher who denounces traitors."

"Call Ah Sheng, call Ah Sheng! Although he is my adopted son, he is also the biological son of Lord Nobunaga..." In the midst of intense mourning and howling, my brother still did not forget important things.At this time, Hashiba Hidekatsu, who was in the formation on the flat mountain on the north side of Ishii Mountain, was Hideyoshi's adopted son and Oda Nobunaga's fourth son. At first glance, Oda Nobunaga seems to be an impatient, straightforward, straightforward and passionate person, but in his bones, he is a genius who knows how to draw up long-term plans.As the phrase "Tianxiabuwu" shows, his biggest goal is to establish an absolute monarchy that rules the whole of Japan, and he has been expanding the territory step by step according to his own ideas since he was young.He also has a very clear plan for what will happen after his death.Since he wanted to be a dictatorial enlightened monarch, he hoped that his successor would continue his mission.

For this reason, Nobunaga not only clearly designated the successor, but also deliberately widened the gap between the heir and other brothers, and sent all the sons except the heir (the eldest son Nobutada) to other families as adopted sons—the second son Nobuo was sent to the Beibata family. The third son Nobutaka was sent to Kobe's house, and the fourth son Hidekatsu was given to Hashiba Hideyoshi.Such an approach is indeed in line with Nobunaga's style, because he believes in atheism and knows how unreliable oral agreements or oaths are. Although Nobunaga was so far-sighted, he probably never thought that the eldest son Nobutada would be killed at the same time as him, but this "impossible" situation actually happened-after careful preparations, Akechi Mitsuhide chose the perfect time to betray, Not only attacked Nobunaga at the Honnoji Temple, but also sent troops to encircle and suppress Nobunaga who was in Nijo Castle at the same time, and successfully killed Nobunaga and his son.

As a result, the three sons behind Nobunaga were all adopted sons of other families.Among them, Nobuo Kitabata and Nobutaka Kobe have become the heads of the family, and only Hidekatsu Hashiba is still protected by his adoptive father Hideyoshi.However, formally, like the other two brothers, he is qualified to avenge his father.Hideyoshi, who had always treated the fifteen-year-old Xiusheng as a child, must have realized this, and suddenly raised his status at this time.The most brilliant thing about Hideyoshi is that his various calculations are almost all done naturally in acts of complete kindness.

In short, because Hideyoshi's kindness and scheming, passion and acting skills are completely integrated, everyone present did not notice the latter part at all.In their eyes, Hideyoshi cried out of his heart because of excessive shock and sadness.Facing all these realistic predicaments, Hideyoshi's performance made his subordinates feel extremely uneasy and forgot what he had done just now. Disharmony and competition for fame and fame.Everyone thought, everything depends on our Yuchai family now. As if to show everyone's mood, Kanbei Kuroda, who has always been proud of his calmness and wisdom, dragged his legs to Hideyoshi, and whispered in his ear:

"My lord, this is not the time to cry. Now is a great opportunity. We should quickly condemn the traitors and take the world into our hands." Koichiro Hidecho was shocked.Although Kanbei Kuroda cautiously lowered his voice, Koichiro who was standing next to his brother had already heard all these words in his ears. "A guy who talks nonsense, a frivolous man who sells his wisdom cheaply, and a conspiracy who loves to be strong!" At this moment, Koichiro already had such a bad impression of Kanbei Kuroda in his heart.My brother probably had the same thought, and a gleam of light came out of his teary eyes.All of a sudden, Koichiro suddenly felt that this was his time to play, and immediately shouted:

"That's right, Lord Kanbei is right. No matter what, we must avenge Lord Nobunaga. Lord Hidekatsu is Lord Nobunaga's son. We must go to conquer Lord Yui Ren Hinata Mori Mitsuhide and report his death for him." Father's blood feud. If we can't do it, how can the lord have the face to be Mr. Xiusheng's adoptive father!" "That's right, Koichiro is right." Hideyoshi echoed Koichiro with a surprisingly loud voice, because that was what he really wanted to say.In "Taihe Ji" and other documents written by later generations, Hideyoshi after the change of Honnoji Temple is described as "a loyal minister and good general who avenges the Lord". , the result of refined romances—even the earliest postscript of "Fu'an Taihe Ji" written by Kose Fuan was written in 1617 and published in 1661; His "Chuanjiao Taihe Ji" was also written around 1622 and 23.

However, when Hideyoshi and Akechi Mitsuhide were at war, society as a whole saw things differently.At that time, it was common for powerful subordinates to kill the lord, and no one would criticize them. On the contrary, when the lord did not reward his subordinates with appropriate rewards, the subordinates would not hesitate to cooperate with the enemy or rebel.Everyone in the society believes that the tyrannical ruler should be killed or exiled, and even regard it as a just act.In this case, the remnants of the vassals to avenge the lord is almost unprecedented and does not conform to the concept of the society at that time.In the troubled times of the Warring States Period, countless lords were killed in rebellions or wars. Hideyoshi was probably the first old retainer who planned to avenge his lord.

Therefore, no matter how loudly Hideyoshi appeals, no one can be expected to assist him based on moral mission or sense of justice, because this is at best a battle between Hashiba and Akechi for the throne vacated after Nobunaga's death. If one really wants to approach it from the perspective of ethics and morality, "the son avenges the father" may still win some sympathy.In this regard, since my brother avenged his father in the early years, there are many precedents, which are quite flattering.Therefore, if Hashiba Hideyoshi wants to promote himself as a "master of justice" to attack Akechi Mitsuhide, he must put "Nobunaga's son" Hidekatsu on the stage.

At this time, Hashiba Hideyoshi must have realized many possible opponents.Because of the sudden incident, Ieyasu Tokugawa, who was visiting near Kyoto, or Kazumashi Takigawa, who was sending troops to Kanto, must have had no time to react. Nobunaga’s second son, Nobuo Kitabata, was in Ise, but his troops were a little insufficient.However, the conditions of Shibata Katsuya in Hokuriku are comparable to that of Hideyoshi, and it seems that the most favorable are the three men Nobutaka and Niwa Nagahide who are stationed in Izumi Suwa Mori and are responsible for attacking Shikoku.Not only are they close to Kyoto, but Nobutaka is also the "son of Nobunaga", and it is quite legitimate to join forces with Niwa Changhide.

But in fact, when the Honnoji Incident happened, most of the soldiers under Nobutaka and Naghide had crossed the sea to Awaji and Shikoku, and only a few thousand remained in Izumi.Therefore, when the news of Nobunaga's sudden death came, these soldiers were afraid that Zhizhi's army would attack, and they fled one after another, let alone "revenge".But Hideyoshi must have no way to know this situation. The generals of the Warring States Period, even if they were colleagues, their relationship might not be harmonious.Especially Hashiba Hideyoshi comes from a humble background, likes to show off, and is extravagant, so he is not liked by his peers.Therefore, even if he was lucky enough to defeat Akechi Mitsuhide, he would be surrounded and suppressed by all sides.In this regard, bringing "Nobunaga's son" Xiusheng to the table is indeed a good way to reduce resistance. At this time, Kuroda's whispers only encouraged Hideyoshi and other generals to fight for hegemony; Koichiro's shouts swept away the cowardice caused by "humble background" in Hideyoshi's heart.In terms of understanding Hideyoshi, Kanbei Kuroda is still far behind Hideyoshi's younger brother Koichiro. Since then, Koichiro Hidetaka, an officer and soldier of Kuroda, was gradually squeezed out of the center of power, but Koichiro Hidecho's position and jurisdiction gradually expanded, becoming an important minister of the Toyotomi regime.