Chapter 2 Yamato Dai Nayan-2

Time flies like an arrow, and more than twenty years have passed in a blink of an eye. Just like moving from earth to heaven, everything has undergone a fundamental change, whether it is fate or circumstances. Hideyoshi inherited the Oda regime, won the central part of the world, mastered the capital, and placed his base in Osaka.Ah Zhong lived in Daban City, and a large number of maids waited on her.The daughter born between her and Takeami became the wife of Saji Hinatamori, a small daimyo under the Hashiba regime. The lord of the country, with Himeji Castle as its capital. "It's like a dream!"

Other than that, no other view is possible.However, A Zhongke didn't just start living a noble life from now on.As early as eleven years ago, when Hideyoshi was named the daimyo of Omi Nagahama City's 200,000 koku territory by Nobunaga, she moved from her hometown in Gifu to Nagahama City. In that lakeside city, she started a luxurious and luxurious life. Life. All in all, eleven years have passed since then, and for this reason, I have long been accustomed to this kind of life. However, some things have not been adapted so far.Probably because Hideyoshi wants to preside over the government from this year.In order to re-arrange the harem of Daban City in the same way as the imperial court, many daughters of officials and eunuchs were recruited from the capital to serve as maids.In this way, even the rules of going to the bathroom to relieve oneself have all changed.

"I can go alone." Even though Ah Zhong said so, the maids did not agree, and several of them always followed behind, standing at the door of the toilet to take care of her meticulously.What's more, the toilet is no longer the place to unwind, the bottom is covered with sand.When the thing fell on the sand, someone took it away without hesitation. One day Ah Zhong asked a maid from the capital, "Is that used as fertilizer?" From the perspective of Ah Zhong, who was a farmer, it was sprinkled in the vegetable garden. "No, no," the maids shook their heads vigorously, and replied, "That's what I know Kuzhai took to see."

What exactly is "Knowing the Kuzhai"?It's ridiculous to say that Ah Zhong always thinks that it's an official in charge of stinky things.But shortly afterwards, she knew that was not the case.There was a former imperial physician in the capital, named Qu Naose Masamori, who came to Osaka from the capital not long ago and became the attendant physician of Hideyoshi's family.This person took the name of fasting even though he knew it, which probably came from the meaning of suffering even though he knew the truth. Because of the sudden promotion, this is not the only case where Ah Zhong is in a dilemma.

Another example is that one day, the maid asked her: "Did the old lady work under the emperor in the palace?" Ah Chung thought, I’m really joking. I was born in a poor farmer’s family in the Owari Gokisho. Later, I married Yaemon Nakamura. The first half of life.At this time Ah Zhong asked back: "Who said that?" According to the maid, it was actually Hideyoshi who said it. "So it's this kid!" She almost blurted out.Because of his sudden prosperity, this kid must have gone mad with joy. After inquiring carefully, I realized that the story could be justified: Ah Zhong was originally a maid in the palace and worked as a cook.At that time, the emperor was called Empress Nara, and one day he met Ah Zhong and fell in love with her at first sight, so he pulled Ah Zhong by the sleeve and entered the bedroom of the inner palace.Hideyoshi seems to say this to people: "Because of this, I have touched the jade body of the emperor." The story goes on to say that Ah Chung became pregnant, and then returned to his hometown of Owari and gave birth to a boy. Hideyoshi and so on.

Hideyoshi spoke these words to people in the mansion of Shiyakuin in Kyoto.Let's say that Shiyaoyuan mansion is the place where Hideyoshi straightened his attire when he went to the palace to meet the emperor.The person who heard him say this was Joanna Matsunaga. Matsunaga Joan was the son of Matsunaga Dan Masahide, who was famous in the capital in the past.After Jiuxiu's death, his son Zhende abandoned martial arts and went to literature, and lived in the capital. He made a living by writing Liange and Wandering Harmony.Hideyoshi thought that it was very convenient to win over Joan of Arc to his side, not only to know all kinds of news in the officialdom, but also to find out the intelligence of the court.

Joan of Arc happened to be at his side on the day of the above speech.That day, Hideyoshi finished changing his clothes and sat on the ground, resting with his back against the courtyard pillars. Hideyoshi said, "When my mother was young..." This Joan of Arc was deeply surprised to hear Hideyoshi say this, and couldn't help being stunned.Regardless of whether you believe it or not, let's write it down truthfully for the time being.After that, he spread the words to others. Ah Zhong shook his head, thinking: "What kind of medicine is sold in this kid's gourd!"

After a few days, Hideyoshi returned to Osaka Castle after finishing his campaign against Kishu.Hideyoshi was a dutiful son, every time he came back from the front line, he always came to greet his mother Ah Zhong first.This has become his habit. When they met this time, Ah Zhong deliberately dismissed everyone and asked in a low voice, "I heard that you actually said such a thing to someone in the court, didn't you?" Hearing what his mother said, Hideyoshi laughed out loud.Judging from the fact that he didn't deny it, I'm afraid it was indeed such a reckless blow. "Why do you say that?"

Ah Zhong couldn't help thinking, maybe it was out of vanity.Even she was a little elusive about her own son's motives for doing this.Hideyoshi shook his head. Hideyoshi replied: "Please take a look at the right minister, Mr. Oda!" He cited the late master who died at Honno-ji Temple as an example.There are also ambiguities in the genealogy of Nobunaga's ancestors.The ancestor of the Oda family was originally the priest of the Oda Shrine in Dansheng County, Echizen (now Fukui Prefecture). About a hundred or so years before Nobunaga was born, he lived in Owari, became a local gentry, and gradually grew in power.

It is said that the ancestor's original surname was Fujiwara, and for this reason, Nobunaga was originally called the Fujiwara clan.However, when the possibility of conquering the world began to emerge, he suddenly announced: "My family is the Ping family, a descendant of Ping Zisheng." He changed his ancestors all at once.The reason is that the Ashikaga family in power today is the descendant of Minamoto, and it must be the Taira family to overthrow the Ashikaga family and inherit the world.The idea that the world is ruled alternately by the Genji and the Hera families had a profound influence on the rich and famous families at that time.Therefore, Nobunaga took advantage of this secular superstition and used it to create public opinion for the establishment of the Oda family's world.

Hideyoshi witnessed this evolution.However, Hideyoshi himself, because of his humble background, could not even make up such a legend.In this case, Hideyoshi probably wanted to use Genji's surname. Because since Nobunaga is Taira, then Hideyoshi after him should be Genji.If it is Genji, according to the precedent, the imperial court can issue an edict as the general who conquers Yi and open the shogunate.Tokugawa Ieyasu from the Mikawa area changed his surname at the same time as Nobunaga changed his surname, and created his own family tree, but it is too late for Hideyoshi to do so now! Since he couldn't be the general who conquered the barbarians, Hideyoshi thought to himself, then he might as well be the minister of the imperial court, and become Guan Bai.Guan Bai must be the Fujiwara family who is the son of the royal family.If this is the only point, a simple solution is to be the adopted son of a minister who has a close relationship with him (later Hideyoshi became the son of Kikutei Dai Nagan), and in this way, the problem will be solved.However, even if he entered a famous family as an adopted son, his own birth still cannot be resolved according to the current situation.For this reason, Hideyoshi spread the story that he was a descendant of the emperor. Needless to say, no one would believe this.Hideyoshi felt that as long as the story spread, it would be fine.Even if someone asked about this, Hideyoshi himself did not intend to give an affirmative answer, but was prepared to laugh out loud, treating it as a joke.In short, before becoming the adopted son of Mr. Fujiwara, if the rumor that "the society also said so" could be created and spread, then it would be much easier for the formalistic court to accept Hideyoshi. The above-mentioned stories of the emperor's descendants were created for this purpose.But now my mother broke the casserole and asked the truth, so seriously, how could Hideyoshi resist it. Ah Zhong said: "Don't forget, you have a sister!" It would have been fine if my sister had died, but she was still alive. Together with her husband, she inherited the surname of Miyoshi, a well-known family in Awa, and her son Hideji became Hideyoshi's adopted son.If it is said that when Ah Zhong was a young girl, he was conceived by the emperor and returned to Owari, then how to explain the existence of this elder sister.To say that it is a young girl who drags oil bottles, the story does not make sense. Hideyoshi laughed loudly: "Ah, hahaha!" According to Hideyoshi, who cares.This was originally just a myth fabricated for the favor of the formal court, so there is no question of whether it makes sense. "So, how is your brother Koichiro?" "He's Takeami's son." "That is to say, only you are the descendants of the Son of Heaven!" Ah Zhong slowly shook his head, his face full of astonishment, as if to say: This is really scary.This son, who was born between Yaemon and me, has become a completely incomprehensible person just because he ran away from home when he was a child and kept away from me.In contrast, Takeami's son, Koichiro Hidecho, was brought up by Naka single-handedly. Compared with his elder brother, he is such an upright and lovable son. Koichiro might be considered a born German.He was summoned by Hideyoshi three years later. At that time, Hideyoshi was still a low-level samurai of the Oda family, and was in charge of the defense of the Sumata castle.Not only Koichiro, Hideyoshi also called his mother, sister, brother-in-law and younger sister Axu.And made a big feast and entertained them. At this time, Ah Zhong met his daughter-in-law, Hideyoshi's wife Ning Ning for the first time, and also met Ning Ning's cousin Asano Yahei Nagamasa.It can be said that this was a big meeting between Hideyoshi's close relatives and Ningning's natal family.During the banquet, Hideyoshi frequently persuaded people to drink and received them very hospitablely.Soon, when the banquet was over, Hideyoshi patted his half-brother on the shoulder with his hand and said, "Koichiro, stay in this castle!" Ah Zhong wanted to try to obstruct it, but Xiaoichiro had already nodded in agreement.He became a samurai from that day on.Hideyoshi called the younger brother to another room, and called his brother-in-law, Nagamasa Asano from his wife's family, and said, "Please help me, both of you." Since ancient times, there has been a habit in samurai families, that is, the eldest son will be the general, and the younger brother and uncle will be his confidants and generals to help him.Since samurai families were established by the blood alliance of the same clan, Hideyoshi also wanted to adopt this method. Hideyoshi said: "Xiao Yilang, you will be my agent in the future, you have to study hard and get familiar with it quickly!" He entrusted military advisor Hanbei Takenaka to be in charge of Koichiro's education.Hanbei Takenaka was a native of Mino, and at that time had served as a military adviser in Sumata Castle.In the middle of the actual battle to defend the Sumata Walled City, Banbingwei taught Koichiro the skills of leading the army in battle: how to advance and retreat, how to observe the enemy's situation, how to give orders, how to take care of the soldiers, etc., even the details. Give pointers. Koichiro is a good student.From beginning to end, he listened to the military division's explanation with a meticulous attitude and did field training.When the military adviser asked him to command with real swords and guns, he could do what the teacher taught him, and he handled everything just right.Banbing Wei commented: Although he has no outstanding talent, if he is allowed to be the left-behind captain, he is completely competent. Hanbei thought to himself: "This is also a kind of talent!" According to him, although Koichiro lacks the spirit of originality, he has a strong ability to imitate; he is not born to like to be unconventional, so he can faithfully follow the instructions of his superiors, and he is down-to-earth and meticulous. Judging from his personality, he is almost born It is specially for my brother to be the captain of the city. Let me give you an example.Once Hideyoshi was ordered by Nobunaga to lead troops to attack Gifu City, and he asked his younger brother to stay behind in the barracks.In this battle, Hideyoshi personally led a small number of light soldiers from Hachisuka's army, and sneaked into the castle from the back mountain of Gifu Castle. Before setting off, Hideyoshi told Koichiro and made an agreement with him: "I will lead an army to sneak into the city and pull the gate bolt from the inside. At that time, I will erect a long bamboo pole high, with a bamboo pole tied to the top. A gourd, when you see this signal, you must quickly open the city gate from outside the city, rush into the city, and join me." If this plan is disrupted, then Hideyoshi will surely perish in the city.However, Koichiro cooperated closely and completed the task instructed by his brother brilliantly. After this battle, Hanbei even came to Hideyoshi specially and blessed him: "It is the general's blessing to have such a good brother!" Banbei has always advocated that in an army composed of all generals who are close relatives, it is enough for a man with outstanding intelligence to have an older brother, and a younger brother should not be more talented than his elder brother.If the younger brother is stronger than the elder brother, then the soldiers will naturally be close to the younger brother.In this way, the command of the whole army will be chaotic.In addition, Hanbei also advocated that the younger brother must be a person of asceticism.If the younger brother is greedy, he will compete with other generals under his elder brother for merit. In this way, the entire family army will often be in chaos.In these two respects, Koichiro, a young man, can be regarded as a perfect and ideal person. More than ten years have passed since the defense of the Sumata Fortress. Once, Hideyoshi was ordered by Nobunaga to lead an army to conquer China.Koichiro served as the chief general of this army. He was on the front line, from Harima to Beichu, he moved to various places and made martial arts achievements.The troops led by Koichiro are brave and good at fighting. Compared with other generals under Oda, he is not inferior. He has a great reputation in the army. During this period, Hanbei Takenaka was bedridden due to a relapse of an old illness in the army.When Koichiro came to visit him, Hanbei was already terminally ill, and he was in danger.But he still let the orderly support his back, sat up, and said to Koichiro, "I have something to tell you." Hanbei, who was dying, exhausted all his strength in order to speak to his disciples who had been obedient to him since the Sumata era. "Pay attention to protecting yourself, the ultimate goal of the art of war is here." Hanbei is worried about Koichiro's rising reputation.When you are famous, you will be proud.An arrogant attitude will cause resentment from other generals, maybe they will speak ill of you in front of Lord Zhuzhou (Hideyoshi).After you have made military exploits, you should give all the credit to the generals under you.Generals can only get ahead by building military exploits.And even if you have no meritorious service, you are still the younger brother of Master Zhuzhou. "In the past, you have always done this." With such words, Hanbei once again praised Koichiro's achievements in the past ten years.He didn't try to make a name for himself at all, and all the credit goes to his subordinates. He was Hideyoshi's representative, and only made Hideyoshi famous, and he didn't show off himself at all. "It's a nice job." However, it is not known what will happen in the future.Especially in this Battle of Banshu, Koichiro made outstanding achievements and gained a great reputation. It is not known whether this may change his character, and it is precisely this that Hanbei is worried about. Hanbei finally said: "You have to become a person like the shadow." He said, to be Hideyoshi's shadow, and be satisfied with it, forget your existence as Koichiro.He reminded again, looking forward to the future, other than doing this, there is no place in the world for you, Koichiro, to settle down. The purpose of the art of war is ultimately to hide yourself.Can it be done? Koichiro had no objection, nodded sincerely, and said gratefully with tears in his eyes, "Thank you for your teaching, Master." Later, within half an hour, Hanbei died.Needless to say, the above words were the last words spoken by Ban Bingsheng before his death. While Hideyoshi was attacking China, Nobunaga died at the Honnoji Temple at the most critical moment of the war.In order to attack Mitsuhide Akechi who occupied the capital, Hideyoshi turned his troops from Beichu and drove to the capital. On the way, he first entered Himeji Castle.During this period, Hideyoshi was awarded by Nobunaga, in addition to owning the three counties of Kita Omi, he also owned Banzhou, and used Himeji Castle as his base. Hideyoshi entered the city after a long march in the rain. As soon as he arrived at the city, he immediately took a bath and issued all military orders from the bathroom.In order to fight this battle with all his strength, he ordered that all the gold, silver, treasures, food, fodder, firewood, etc. in the city be distributed to the soldiers.After issuing these orders, Hideyoshi issued another order: "Koichiro stay and defend the castle!" Koichiro was standing outside the bathroom door to listen to the order. Koichiro thought to himself, "This is a disgrace!" After Hanbei's death, Kuroda Kanbei (Rusui) assumed the position of Hideyoshi's adviser. Koichiro approached him to discuss, hoping to change this extremely disgraceful task assigned to him. The reason Koichiro said seems to make sense.If his elder brother Hideyoshi were to lose in the battle against Akechi Mitsuhide, then this mere Himeji Castle would be vulnerable to the enemy, and there were less than 500 soldiers left to guard the castle, not to mention the food and fodder necessary to defend the castle. All of them have been distributed, and the so-called garrison mission is nothing more than guarding the hostages taken from various wealthy families in Banshu, as well as protecting Hideyoshi's wife who is commonly known as Himeji Hime.How can this be an honorable position for a manly man when life and death are at stake in this world? Unexpectedly, Kuroda Guanbingwei quietly tugged at his sleeve, pulled him to a secluded corner of the room, and said, "This is a mistake of yours." According to him, this battle is the one that will determine the final outcome.Eighty percent of the generals under Hideyoshi's command were sent by Master Oda. They supported Hideyoshi, and they were eager to make military contributions to their family's future in this battle.Master Zhuzhou (Hideyoshi)'s great fortune depends on the active efforts of these generals to develop.Because you are his own flesh and blood, the most important thing is to exercise restraint and patience at such times. You must not compete with the generals for rewards, but give others the opportunity to make meritorious deeds. The above is what the officers and soldiers said.If it was normal, Koichiro would nod obediently and follow this reasoning.But just because the times are different, this man who has always been gentle and honest can't restrain his inner excitement at this time, he let go of his voice and shouted: "Every time I stay behind, I will be the one! This time it is about my brother. I, Koichiro, would like to fight the enemy to the death with my brother on the battlefield of the mountain city." Koichiro only had a voice like Hideyoshi, thick and loud, and the shout reached Hideyoshi who was soaking in the bathtub. "Xiaoichiro!" Hideyoshi called him in the same rough and loud voice, "I heard what you said. You are wrong." Then he shouted: "If you say that, what about Nagahama Castle?" Well, Nagahama is pretty much an abandoned and completely unguarded city now. Maybe even our mother and my wife are dying in the burning fire right now." Omi Nagahama Castle is Hideyoshi's base.Ah Zhong and Ning Ning both live there, the enemy will naturally attack this city.Although mother and Ning Ning are women, they will definitely follow the rules of Wumen, stay inside the city wall and wait for help.Do you still feel dissatisfied with being asked to defend Himeji Castle?Otherwise, are you willing to share fate with Himeji? Unexpectedly, even Hideyoshi was very excited and kept yelling incoherently.However, Koichiro had already been overwhelmed by the thunderbolt-like shout, and became listless like a deflated ball. Xiaoichiro even had this thought in his mind: "There is no one more pitiful than a younger brother in the world!" As far as elder brother Hideyoshi is concerned, he may feel that there is no one in the world who is easier to control than his younger brother. If he is reprimanded face to face, if it is another general, he will definitely hold a grudge against him, and he will even throw his black hat on the spot and quit. .Thanks to being my younger brother, I don't have to worry about such a thing happening. At this moment, I saw Koichiro's fat body curled up, his round face lowered, and he looked frightened. "Do you understand?" When Hideyoshi asked again, Koichiro lowered his head and replied softly, "I will definitely do what my brother tells me." After Hideyoshi led the army to leave Himeji, he defeated Akechi Mitsuhide's army in the Yamazaki area of ​​Yamashiro shortly after, confirming his status as the successor of the Oda regime. Afterwards, Koichiro also participated in the Battle of Mt. Kino, which was a major battle related to whether he could take over the world, and also participated in the Battle of Komaki with the army.Later, he participated in the war against Jizhou, which can be said to be a battle to wipe out the remnants of the enemy near the capital. After pacifying Kishu, Hideyoshi ordered Koichiro: "Koichiro, please govern Kishu!" This place of Kishu, since the time of Nobunaga, has been a very troublesome area.The local samurai were staunch and often drew their swords at each other.The people are full of independence. During the Warring States period for more than a hundred years, they united into a unified management country through negotiations, and never once accepted the princes sent by the central government. Moreover, this is the site of the Yixiang sect of Buddhism. The local residents regard Amitabha as the only absolute authority, and do not respect the lords on the ground.Furthermore, there are many green forest heroes entrenched on the mountains in this area, and most of the fishing ports by the sea are lairs of pirates.In Hideyoshi's view, "To heal the place of Kishu, it must be someone like Koichiro." Appease the green forest heroes and pirates, listen patiently to their grievances, and vigorously sweep away the injustice in the world. Although his generals are as brilliant as stars, when Hideyoshi looks around, he finds that Koichiro is the only one who is capable of this important task. The younger brother lived up to his elder brother's expectations.After being entrusted in March in the thirteenth year of Tensho (1585), Koichiro built a castle in Kozaga (now Wakayama City) and began to manage it.On the one hand, he showed the majesty of the new lord, on the other hand, he also warned his retainers not to do evil, and at the same time, he formulated laws to promote the rule of the people. In this way, the people of this country, which is known as difficult to govern, unexpectedly established a close relationship with Koichiro.Needless to say, the two banks of Jichuan River, even the other places in Kishu - the small field of more than 700,000 koku between Quanzhou in the north and Kumano in the south, has become calm and calm, a scene of peace. Hideyoshi, who ordered Koichiro to rule over Kishu, was the first to say in amazement, "Koichiro is such a strange talent!" In Hideyoshi's eyes, Koichiro seems to be a natural mediator and civil administrator.What Hideyoshi likes even more is that among his relatives who are mostly dull and careless, only Koichiro is an outstanding figure, and it can even be called a miracle.Whether judging from his talent or his character, this Koichiro will most likely become a mainstay of the Hideyoshi regime in the future.