Chapter 16 Chapter Sixteen: The Orphans of Osaka

In order to eliminate war, all kinds of efforts have to be made.Deep in Tokugawa Ieyasu's desire to eradicate the war, there is the great compassion of Buddhism.However, in order to eradicate the hidden danger of war, some people associate this desire with ordinary love and hatred.Now in Jingban, there are some people who say they long for peace, and they are looking for the remnants of Sui Daban.Everyone thinks that if the enemy is not eradicated, it is inevitable that the bereaved family will hold grudges in their hearts, and the meaning of revenge will be passed down from generation to generation.Toyotomi Hideyori's orphaned country, Matsumaru, became the target of public criticism.

The daughter that Ami gave birth to has already been dealt with: as usual, most women are not punished, so she was given to Qianji as an adopted daughter, and Qianji became a nun soon.But if it's a boy, don't rush into it.Among Xiuzhong's cronies, once someone mentioned this matter, the matter could no longer be covered up. "There is no need to worry about Kunimatsumaru." Honda said rightly, "Whether he is Hideyori's own son is still doubtful: some people say that it is just the result of Hideyori's jokes when he was young. Therefore, not long after he was born, Guosongwan was sent out of the city through the High Court, and given to a certain merchant, whether he is dead or alive is still unclear. In short, the origin of the child is unknown, so there is no need for everyone to worry about it."

"That's not the case." Ii Nao said filially, "I heard that Hideyori took the child to the city to raise him." This rumor is true.However, it was not Xiu Lai who took him into the city on purpose.The truth of the matter is: the Chang Gao Court gave the child to a certain businessman, but during the war last year, the businessman was afraid of being implicated in the future, so he sent the child back to Osaka City.According to the precedent in the world, Kanto and Kansai turned against each other, and Kanto won in the end. If someone dared to hide in the Tai Pavilion, he would definitely be killed.The birth of Kunimatsumaru is already sad, if no one says that he is dependent on Xiu, I am afraid that this disaster will not happen.

In fact, at the beginning, Chang Gaoyuan was afraid that Chihime would give birth to a son-in-law in the near future, so after discussing with Mrs. Yodo, the Kunimatsu was given to Wakasa merchants, Yazaemon of the Stone House who operates dried vegetables in Fushimi Nongren Town .When the Chang Gaoyuan asked Kyogoku's retainer Tanaka Rokuzaemon to send Kunimatsu to someone else as an adopted son, he ordered: "This son's background is extraordinary, so he should be raised by a good student." Although the Chang Gaoyuan only said this, but Rokuzaemon The origin of Guosong was revealed.

Yazaemon, who adopted Kunimatsu as his adopted son, made his young widowed sister-in-law a wet nurse: until Kunimatsu was seven years old, he kept this secret with great pleasure, and raised Kunimatsu carefully.Kunimatsu is the grandson of the late Taiko and the son of the lord of Osaka Castle. Maybe one day he will be recalled to Osaka Castle and become a daimyo.This night's journey to wealth and honor made Yazaemon very excited.Because of the face of his wife married from Tokugawa, Hideyori sent away the child, but the relationship between father and son is hard to break.With this sweet dream in mind, Yazaemon secretly invited Tanaka Rokuzaemon to teach him the style and skills of a samurai in order to make Kunimatsu promising in the future.

However, things suddenly changed.Between Tokugawa and Toyotomi, the cloud of war is getting thicker and thicker.In the fall of last year, Yaemon passed Tanaka Rokuzaemon again, expressing the pain of not being able to adopt him: "This child is of noble birth, and there will inevitably be mistakes in a poor place. Please take the child back and raise him." At that time, Chang Gao The court had gone to Osaka City under the secret order of Yasushi to try to reconcile, and the Kyogoku family elder took Guosong back and sent him to Hideyori.At this time, Chang Gaoyuan wholeheartedly hoped to reconcile the two parties through herself. If not, she would have sent Guosong away again.In this way, Guosong returned to Osaka City and became a leaf in the wind.

Xiu Lai was very excited to see the seven-year-old Guosong. He invited Guosong's biological mother back and ordered everyone to call Guosong "Young Master".Qianji has not yet given birth.When Kansai and Kanto were in disarray, Kunimatsu was like Hideyori's plaything to relieve boredom.Of course, Guosong's biological mother was even more delighted. She was recalled to Xiu Lai's side and was favored again.If Chihime is infertile, maybe Kunimatsumaru will be able to become the lord of Osaka in the future.But this year when the summer campaign broke out in Osaka, her dream disappeared immediately.Yazaemon's sister-in-law has been serving Kunimatsu in the large garbage city, so Hideyori entrusts Kunimatsu to her, and Kunimatsu hides in Yazaemon's house again.

This made Yazaemon terrified.The group that sent Kunimatsu to his home were Tanaka Rokuzaemon and his wife, Kunimatsu's wet nurse, and the son of the Kyogoku family's Otsu Kuran who practiced the clan language, an eleven or twelve-year-old child who was also Kunimatsu's playmate.Although it has been less than a year, Guosong has gotten used to the life of the "young master" in Osaka City.Nurses and playmates are his servants.Yazaemon was afraid that something might happen, so he entrusted Kunimatsu to the wooden house of the Kaga Ryokan with whom he had a close relationship.

Osaka City is in ruins, Guosong's parents are no longer alive, and the Kwantung Army has also begun to search for the remnants of the defeated generals in the capital and Osaka day and night... The Kaga samurai often stay in the wooden house, which does not attract attention at first, but rumors But spread. "There is a strange child in the house of Kagazai Kiya." Four or five days after Osaka Castle was captured by the Kanto, this rumor appeared in various places. "Strange kid? How weird?" "Seven or eight years old. I heard that the children nearby asked him what his name was, and he called himself the young master."

"Little Lord?" "Yes, there is always an eleven or twelve-year-old servant by his side. The child calls him the young master, but he doesn't know whose family's young master it is." At this time, a report has been issued to expose the remnant party in Osaka, so people will report every day.How can one ignore such rumors at a time like this? At this time, it was Jing Yi Naotaka who was in charge of Fushimi's vigilance.It is unknown who reported this to Jing Yi.The people who went to investigate also thought that the child had some identity at first, but no one thought that it was the son of Hideyori.

"I heard that there is a child who claims to be the young master living here, bring it here and let us have a look." The owner of the log house was terrified when he heard this, and quickly told the wet nurse about it, and the wet nurse ran to Tanaka Rokuzaemon from the back door.Rokuzaemon's face paled. He should have transferred the child to Wakasa earlier, but because Kyogoku's senior official was reluctant, he delayed the move and delayed the opportunity. Rokuzaemon changed his clothes and came to the wooden house, it was already too late.He tried to defend himself, saying that the child was Kyogoku Tadaka's illegitimate child. "The child is called the young master, because he is the blood of my lord, and he was supposed to be brought back to the territory, but because of the busy affairs after the war, it has been delayed until now..." Liuzaemon spoke solemnly, but the soldier interrupted him impatiently: "What you said is too outrageous. What you said to this woman is completely wrong!" Rokuzaemon was so flustered that he didn't notice the nurse who was pushed to the ground by the officers and soldiers. "You just said that this child is of Jingji blood?" "Exactly." "Hmph! That woman, repeat what you just said!" "Yes. The young master we serve is a child of the most noble family in this world..." "If you say that, it must be an extraordinary family. Tell me, which family is it?" "I'm sorry." Seeing the nurse like this, Tanaka complained endlessly.Since the soldiers became suspicious, how could they give up easily?He then said: "There is a deeper reason for this. I would like to report directly to Lord Itakang, the deputy director of the department. Please report." At this time, another team brought out the son of Zongyu and Guosong. The wet nurse is a stubborn woman, although she only came from a Fushimi merchant, but because she lived in Osaka City for a period of time, she has engraved the word "loyalty" in her heart.She mistakenly thought that as long as the child was said to be Xiu Lai's son, these lower-level officials would not dare to take anything against him.Moreover, she felt that Changgaoyuan was behind her, and as long as Changgaoyuan came forward, neither Jing Yi nor Itakura would dare to do anything.Therefore, she planned to play the last card, and protected Guosong who was being pulled by all the soldiers, and said: "Stop being rude! With the respect of the young master, how can you let rough hands and feet like you touch each other? " "Who is this kid?" Tanaka Rokuzaemon felt anxious, and tried to stop the nurse, but she had already heard her domineering: "I'm afraid I'd scare you by saying it, it's Mr. Toyotomi Taiko's grandson—Master Kunimatsumaru!" In front of the wooden house, there are already crowds of people.Rokuzaemon sighed secretly. "Ah, he is the son of the right minister..." Suddenly, there was a sigh in the crowd.This is where the sad child who can most arouse the interest of people in the Jingban market comes on stage. "Master Guosong has been captured!" The rumors are directly related to the life and death of the Jingji clan. "I heard that Kyogoku's retainers hid him here." In this way, the behavior of the Kyogoku clan will be regarded as rebellion. "This has nothing to do with the Jingji clan. This child was born noble, and the villain adopted him as an adopted son..." Although Tanaka Rokuzaemon tried his best to defend himself, he was still taken to Ii Naotaka's place, and then taken to the residence of Soshidai.The wet nurse and Zongyu's son were detained together. Jing Yi Naotaka was having lunch in the tent, when he saw the soldiers escorting Guosong over, he helped him and gave him food, then asked: "People call you young master?" "Yes, young master..." "Oh, young master wants to drink?" "okay." "Come here, pour wine." Guosong drank the wine in the red cup with relish, then put the cup down.Naotaka smiled and picked up the wine glass, and poured himself a glass. "The young master's cup that has expired, we can no longer use it." He said, and threw the cup out. At this moment, the wet nurse sternly said, "Bold!" "What did you say?" "This is the orphan of the right minister, you and other vulgar people are not worthy of sitting in front of the young master. How dare you throw away the young master and drink the cup, it is extremely rude and arrogant!" Hearing the woman's scolding, Zhixiao sneered, "You are really a loyal person, do you want the Jingji clan to die with you?" Soon, Kunimatsu was handed over to Itakura Katsushige. Itakura Katsushige asked Guosong to take a bath, and then asked the wet nurse what he likes to eat. The nurse saw that Itakura Katsushige was old and very attentive, so she said truthfully, "The young master likes Wakasa's flatfish." "Oh, steamed flatfish, I'll have someone do it right away." After saying that, Sheng Zhong sighed in his heart, and said, "This young master is indeed Xiu Lai's orphan?" "Yes, it is the orphan of the Ufu. It was the Chang Gaoyuan who entrusted him to Tanaka Rokuzaemon, and Tanaka sent the child to Yazaemon's family to raise him. How could there be a mistake?" "When did you become his wet nurse?" "Since he was born." "What's your name?" "The servant girl is Yazaemon's sister-in-law, the widow of Yasaburo, Ale." "Oh, you've been by his side since he was born, so you must love him so much?" "Of course, I would rather lose my life than protect the young master." "Ah!" Sheng Shige sighed, "If the Chang Gao Court said that it is true that the child was handed over to Stone House through the hands of Tanaka, but the child was not born by Hideyori, what would happen? Only Chang Gao knows the truth. You are afraid that you just listened to rumors, or you arranged them at will." "No! How could there be such a thing? The fact that the servant was called into Daban City to serve the young master is a clear proof." "I heard from the Chang Gao Court that after last year's winter service, the city has been busy with affairs. How can I have time to take care of these things?" "Madam would say this?" The wet nurse was quite surprised, she leaned forward, and continued, "Please let the servants see Madam. If you still say that the young master's identity is suspicious, how can the young master have a foothold? In this city, the young master often plays at the knee of the Lord Youfu..." "Wait a minute!" Shengzhong interrupted her helplessly, "This is all your own wild imagination. According to my investigation: it is not the case. Then Tanaka seems to be a bad person." "Rokuzaemon?" "Yes, it is said that the child entrusted to Tanaka by the Changgao Court has already died of smallpox." "Ah! Why is there such a thing?" "Wait for me to finish. In order to keep the agreement, Rokuzaemon sent his own child to be an adopted son. Although it was unrighteous to do so, it can still be said that the child was born by Hideyori. The Lord of Daban City. He sent the child to Daban City because of evil intentions. Have you heard of this rumor?" Itakura Katsushige knew that Ieyasu was suffering, so he wanted to save Kunimatsu's life.He pushed all the crimes on Tanaka's head, so that he could not only save Guosong, but also save the Jingji clan from the crime of hiding. Itakura Katsushige deliberately called the wet nurse in front of him alone, trying his best to hint.If she said that the child was the son of a ronin who had previously served in Kyogoku, the ronin deliberately said that the child was Hideyori's illegitimate child out of self-interest.The father and son could no longer stay in the capital, they would be exiled, and the matter would be left alone.Because of this, the people in the market place who are good at things will not say more. Tanaka is a person who has experienced events, and he can understand Shengshige's thoughts, so he will be more than happy to return to the countryside and hide his name.But first the nurse's mouth must be gagged.However, the calculation in this woman's mind was completely opposite to what Shengjuge had planned.She thought that as long as she could prove that the child was born to Xiu Lai, she would be able to save him; if the child was judged as a counterfeit, she would definitely be beheaded. "I have something to report to Master Sushidai." The wet nurse raised her eyebrows and said, "It must be Ii who spread rumors about the young master being the child of Rokuzaemon. I really can't bear to see that Ii is too rude to the young master. , so I scolded him. He must be holding a grudge, so..." "No!" Sheng Zhong really had no choice but to take this woman.Since she didn't understand her hint no matter what, she had no choice but to tell her clearly, "I heard Tanaka Rokuzaemon say that." "Master Tanaka?" "Yes, you can send him to confront him now. You can calm down and listen to me. If it is true what Liuzaemon said, he and his son will have to be exiled. You don't know anything about this matter, and you won't be wrong. You study, you go back, do you understand?" After finishing his speech, Katsushige clapped his hands and called his servants, "Bring Tanaka Rokuzaemon and his wife." The nurse was stunned for a moment.As far as she knew, the Tanaka couple had no children. If they had, how could they have brought Zongyu's son all the way from Dajin to Guosong as a playmate?The nurse was full of doubts, and she already regarded Itakura Katsushige as a treacherous and cunning person. The Tanaka couple were brought in.Tanaka's wife was more frightened than the nurse, but Tanaka did not lose the stability of the samurai. "Are you Tanaka Rokuzaemon?" "Exactly." "What a vicious person! Why did you hide your child in the wooden house of the Kaga Hotel and call him a sinner? Do you think that as long as he is Kunimatsu, you can get Toyotomi's territory? If you Thinking like this is really a daydream. Hideyori is a traitor, and his son Kunimatsu should be crucified. How dare you say that this child was born by Hideyori?" "I don't dare." Liuzaemon immediately replied, "The villain never said that Kunimatsu is the orphan of Youfu." Sheng Zhong heaved a sigh of relief, looked back at the nurse, and said, "Huh! It seems that some people in the market are just doing good things, saying that he is an orphan in the Youfu, and spreading rumors. You said you didn't know about it, huh?" "Exactly." Rokuzaemon replied.He already understood what Sheng Zhong meant, and there was obvious gratitude to Sheng Zhong in his eyes. "Then let me ask you again, the child in the wooden house in Kaga Inn is your son, right?" "Yes, it is from the villain." "Okay, you step back and wait for the verdict." Sheng Zhong urged again, "I'm afraid the general's cronies will send you an inquiry. At that time, you have to be calm and calm, and report the truth like this, do you understand?" "clear." "Okay, take these two away." Katsushige thinks that Ii Naotaka should be invited again.As long as Naotaka's mouth is sealed, things will be easy.However, due to an accidental report from someone else, Masakazu Honda has started to investigate the matter alone.The informant is the wife of Zongyu, the mother of Kunimatsumaru's playmate.Zong Yu was afraid that this matter would involve the Lord's family, so he asked his wife to come forward and report. "Kunomatsumaru is the blood of Lord Youfu. Yazaemon sent him back to Osaka Castle because he was afraid of being involved. Chang Gaoyuan didn't know about it. It was the conspiracy of Tanaka Rokuzaemon and Wheishiya. Put Kunimatsumaru and Inuzi into the suitcase and secretly sent them to Osaka Castle pretending to be furniture from the Kyogoku family. The person in charge of receiving them in the castle was Mrs. Ise, the biological mother of Kunimatsumaru. On the eve of the collapse of Osaka Castle, the child was sent to the same place again. Stone House. Sir, please look into this matter clearly, return your son to your servant, please be merciful..." On the surface, Zongze's wife begged to forgive her son, but in fact she was justifying Jingji, saying that Jingji had nothing to do with this matter. Zhengchun immediately found Jingyi, confirmed the situation when the two children were captured, and then quickly reported the matter to Xiuzhong, and he went to Suo Sidai's mansion. Zhengchun seems to have made up his mind.If there are too many discussions, the Chang Gao Court will inevitably be suspected, and the Jingji family will also be implicated, so the matter cannot be concealed.According to the old wartime practice, Guosong should be sentenced to death as the son of a traitor to show the majesty of the law to the world.Under such circumstances, Xiuzhong would generally not force the old rules. "I have something to discuss in secret with the Secretary, and report it quickly." When Honda Masazumi rode to Itakura Katsushige's mansion, Kunimatsumaru was sitting between Rokuzaemon and the wet nurse, sucking on Wakasa's steamed flatfish pouting. Masakazu Honda and Katsushige Itakura had a private conversation for an hour and a half in the closed four-door academy.During this period, the personal servants and servants of the three were not allowed to approach, but they still heard them arguing fiercely from time to time. Shengzhong advocates letting Guosong go, but Zhengchun insists on the death penalty.In the end, Ii Naotaka was invited, and then Shigenobu Ando was invited.As a result, more and more people advocated execution, and Itakura Katsushige became weak. But Katsushige did not give in, and not long after, Shigenobu went to Fushimi Castle to ask General Hidetada about his decision. Not long after, Shigenobu came back and said loudly: "Your Excellency has made a decision to act according to the law. Guosongwan should be beheaded on Liutiao River Beach." For a moment, the audience was silent, only Katsushige's tears flowed down. "Where's Tanaka Rokuzaemon?" "Of course it's also a beheading. His words are casual, and he almost hurt the master's family. As a warrior, it should not be." "So... where's the wet nurse?" "The wet nurse is a woman, there is no need to question her." "Where is the servant boy... Zong Yu's son?" "That child..." Shigenobu said halfway through his words, he tilted his head and thought for a while, and said, "The general said, beheaded together. If no one is with you, Kunimatsumaru will be alone on Huangquan Road, too lonely." This sympathy is really strange.As usual, treason is the crime of punishing the nine clans, so such strictness is also common.The reason why the general insisted on executing Guosong was to frighten the remnants and defeated generals who were fleeing - if they didn't give them some color, I don't know what trouble they would cause.But just using violence to control violence, if you are a little careless, you will fall into the cycle of violence. Itakura Katsushige stood up cautiously, walked through the long corridor, and arrived at Kunimatsumaru's residence, it was already past Haishi.He tried his best, but there was nothing he could do.Ironically, it was he himself who had to implement this decision. In front of Shengzhong's eyes, there was a large river beach in summer. It was extremely hot, the sun was burning above his head, the sky and the earth were burning, and there was only one shining clear stream flowing quietly.The pitiful little figure of Kunimatsumaru, stepping on the scorching gravel, is walking towards death step by step... What is the crime of this child? Shengzhong walked through the corridor and looked at Kunimatsu Maru in the room. He had fallen asleep with Zongyu's child, and the nurse next to him looked haggard and was helping to drive away mosquitoes with a round fan. "Send them some mosquito-repellent incense." Itakura Katsushige whispered to the servants, and returned to the room feeling disappointed...