Chapter 11 Chapter Eleven

Toyotomi Hideji's seppuku was performed on July 15th in the fourth year of Bunroku. Masanori Fukushima, Samasuke Fukuhara, Iyomori Ikeda and others were present.Although Venerable Mu Shi once again proposed to avoid Xiuci's death, none of the three dared to accept it lightly.Everyone put on an attitude of firmly believing that "the Taige's decision is difficult to change".They just promised that when they returned to their orders, they would pass Hideji's last words—hip-kiri is an apology to the Taige for their unfilial piety, not an admission of treason—to the Taige intact.

This day happens to be the Obon Festival, and it is said that thousands of souls will visit relatives and friends from the spirit world today, but on such a day, Xiuji will go to the underworld.As for the three servants Yamamoto Main Hall, Yamada Sankuro, and Fupo Ban, no matter how Hideji tried to persuade them, they also decided to die. As a result, all three of them set foot on the road to Huangquan first. "That's good. I'll go after seeing you on the road with my own eyes. When they do things for me, your souls will also be liberated. Don't worry." As soon as Xiuji finished speaking, Yamamoto was the first to stab the dagger into his abdomen.He is only nineteen this year, and the dagger he uses is also the Kuniyoshi sword awarded by Hideji.He calmly drew a cross on his abdomen, and grabbed all the internal organs with his right hand.This is his dissatisfaction and anger venting in his heart.Xiuci raised the knife and dropped it, and Yamamoto's head rolled to the ground.

Next is Sankuro Yamada.He respectfully took the famous nine-inch-eight-inch-long sword Atsuto Shiro from Xiuji's hand, smiled lightly at Xiuci who was holding the bloody knife, and stabbed the knife into his stomach.He is also nineteen years old, and he is as competitive as the main hall, but he does not want to leave angrily like the main hall, but with a smile on his face.Xiuci immediately chopped off his head. The third seppuku is Fubu Banzuo.The companion is only seventeen, known as the most beautiful boy in the world.His bare upper body is fair and delicate, which makes people suspect him as a woman.Everyone couldn't bear to look away.

"I will always be with adults." The companion looked up at Xiuci.The dagger has been deeply pierced into the left chest, but his eyes still haven't moved away from Xiuci.Without changing his face, he easily and slowly slashed the dagger from his left chest to the right side of his slender waist, quietly waiting for Xiuci to intervene for him. Furious flames shot out from Xiuci's eyes. "Go, companion!" The slender knife swung for the third time, and the companion's head fell down.After all, Xiuci is a fierce general, he raised his sword and dropped it without changing his face.However, he personally intervened for the three servant boys he loves, so that he finally lost control of his feelings.Seeing the blood all over the ground, his anger surged out. "I personally blamed the three servant boys because I didn't want them to leave this world with anger. But no one can suppress their anger! Awaji, you blame me!"

"Obey!" Probably because he was worried that if he continued like this, he would lose his composure, Hideji decided to make the fourth seppuku.In his right hand, he took a one-foot-three-inch authentic knife and stabbed it into the abdomen. There were bursts of cicadas singing around, as if they were chanting scriptures.The monks sitting side by side at the last seat all closed their eyes and twisted their rosary beads.The dagger seems to pierce into the depths of the human soul.However, this is just the destination of a samurai, as simple and natural as water flowing downhill.

When the dagger cut down, Xiuci's heart moved, and he even wanted to grab his intestines out and throw it on the faces of the three people sitting in front of him. If so, what expression would Zhengzheng have?But after thinking about it, people are going to die, so why bother!Then he slashed the dagger from his left abdomen to his right waist. "Wait! I haven't cut the cross yet!" Awaji Mamoru Sparrow was about to raise his knife to intercede for him, Hideji shouted loudly. Sparrowbe Awajimori's face was covered with sweat and tears.The simple and rough, but nice Hideji finally failed to live freely, and was just a doll in Taiko's hands... The only thing he could do as he wanted was seppuku.

"Hey!" Awaji yelled, raised his knife and dropped it, everything was over—Hideji's head rolled down. "I'm sorry!" Awaji didn't even straighten his messy hair, sat down beside him, and took off his upper body clothes.Now that the sad master is no longer in this world, he just wants to end his life as soon as possible. "For the sake of the world, you have suffered." He said flatly, "People, as long as they live in the world, no matter who they are, they are destined to work hard all their lives." He was sarcastic, laughing, and comforting himself at the same time.

Awaji threw the long knife to the ground, slowly pulled out the one-chi-three-inch flat knife, and thrust it into the abdomen.Due to excessive force, the back of the knife handle was pierced, exposing the tip of the knife.His face was contorted, he pulled out the knife and put it on his neck, and he yelled with a smile. His head rolled down and landed on his knees, facing everyone as if showing off.People were all stunned.It is said that upon seeing this scene, someone developed a fever that night. After Sparrow Awaji died, Long Nishitang, who had been keeping his head down before, slowly raised his head, and suddenly said: "Please leave the bones of these people to Long Nishitang to clean up."

The three coroners didn't understand what he meant for a while, and none of them responded. "Please come down and clean up these bones." Long Xitang said again.Ikeda Iyoshou hurriedly reprimanded: "Don't talk nonsense! This is a temple. Don't forget, the three of us came here by order." "Will their bones be cleaned up in the name of sinners?" "What are you asking these for?" "Alas! I will go with Guan Bai. Those who die later have the responsibility to tell the truth to those who die first." After finishing speaking, Long Xitang suddenly turned to Yiyoshou.Iyoshou looked back at Masanori Fukushima in surprise, and said, "You are not unreasonable. Master Mu Shi will handle it, so you can rest assured and go with Guan Bai."

"Then, I'm going..." Long Xitang slowly took off his upper body clothes and scanned the room. "Everyone is so brave, and I have no other way to die. It seems better to die first." Then, this well-known eloquent man pressed a short knife to his abdomen, "My life is over like this... I am finally relieved. You still have a long way to go in the future. But everyone will die, and the gods and Buddhas are fair and give death to everyone. I don’t know what death method the gods and Buddhas will bestow on you people. Taige, Dr. Zaemon, Mr. Samasuke, Iyomori..." Ryunishidou pulled the dagger to the right side of his abdomen as he spoke, and smiled with pain, "Haha... As expected, it is better to die first..." He slammed the The knife was pulled out, and it was slashed hard on the neck.A column of blood spurted out, and Long Xitang fell to the ground and died.

Everyone stared at the corpse in front of them, and couldn't help being a little shocked.Everyone dies—that's clearly a curse, a mockery. "Everything is over. Call the Venerable Master." After a while, Zheng Ze woke up like a dream.There was a sudden noise of voices around the main hall, and people could no longer bear the scene in front of them.The sound of cicadas flooded the entire Koyasan... Tokugawa Ieyasu entered Beijing again from Edo, the ninth day after Shuji committed suicide, on July 24 of the fourth year of Bunroku.At this time, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had executed Hideji's retainers one by one extremely cruelly.Kimura Hitarusuke performed seppuku in Ibaraki, while his son Shimasuke fled to Beishan in the capital. After learning of his father's death, he committed suicide at Shogyoji Temple in Teramachi.Kumagai Ozan cut seppuku at Nisonin in Saga, Shirai Bigo died in Dayunin at Shijoin, and Awa carpenter committed suicide in Higashiyama—Hideji's dream was completely shattered. Hideyoshi handled this matter so cruelly, which is deeply inconceivable.But from the beginning, Ieyasu and his son had already guessed such an ending. Hideyoshi was actually very disturbed, he was afraid that Hideyoshi's resentment would be transferred to Aiko Hideyoshi.In order to get rid of this anxiety, we had to cast the net wider.This kind of evil and anxiety has become a vicious circle.In the past, Hideyoshi was upright and open-minded, but now, he was completely captured by suspicion.He not only cast a large net of punishment, but also strictly ordered the world's big names to write an oath to express their loyalty to Xiu Lai.Masuda Nagamori, Ishida Mitsunari and others submitted the affidavit first, followed by Tokugawa Ieyasu, Mori Terumoto, Kobayakawa Takakage, Maeda Toshiie, Ukita Hideke and others. Regardless of whether they agreed or not, Hideyoshi forced them to write down the pledge: "Toyotomi's heir, Hideyori, will be loyal all his life and will never change his mind." At this time, Hideyoshi was just a baby who was babbling on Hideyoshi's lap, but because of him, the blood of countless people had flowed into rivers.Kikutei Haruki, the father of Shuji's concubine Yitai, was exiled to Echigo because he helped Guanbai deliver the gold to the palace; Ieyasu took great pains to save Masamune from being wiped out.He told Hideyoshi that if Masamune were executed now, Oshu would be in chaos.Right now, the negotiations with the Ming Dynasty have not yet come to fruition. Once this happens, it may only lead to civil strife in Japan.Hideyoshi finally accepted Ieyasu's advice. "Okay, I'll keep your head for now. This is the second time, and there will be a third time. Let's touch your head first." Hideyoshi spoke without restraint, and reprimanded Masamune, which made Masamune never My heart is on Ieyasu's side. Today's Taige is committed to creating a sense of terror.He simply couldn't listen to the advice from the Beizheng Office and the obstruction from Jiakang and Lijia. "Continuing on like this will definitely bring disaster to Xiu Lai in the future." Even such admonitions, he turned a deaf ear to them. The bleak autumn wind blew through the streets and alleys of the capital. Finally, on the second day of August, Hideyoshi ordered people to take Hideyoshi's wives, concubines and children to Santiao River Beach.If Xiuci was still alive, seeing his wife and children being escorted to Santiaohe, how would he feel?He would grit his teeth with hatred, regretting that he didn't see his uncle's heart clearly. The former Hideyoshi was strong and decisive.He has a strong self-confidence to rule and dominate everything, and he stands resolutely in the waves.However, since he was shrouded in anxiety, he has completely exposed his weaknesses. "Sigh. Taige even wants to kill those ignorant children?" "No way, how can those innocent children be killed, they will definitely be transferred to a certain place to take care of them." "Yeah, look, how naive the children are..." Hideji's eldest son Senchiyogata was five years old, his second son Hyakumaru was four years old, his third son Yu Jumaru was three years old, and his fourth son Tsuchimaru was still in his infancy.Even the eldest daughter is very young, and she can't even tell the difference between south, east and north.But these children, like the thirty-three women in costumes, were taken from the area of ​​Shangjing to Santiao via one, and then driven to the river beach.Along the way, beautiful flowers and plants fell on them one after another, and every woman counted their rosary beads at the same time... Such a situation inevitably made the world feel sad. The spectators were like a cloud, crowded the river beach, and people were silent, watching these innocent people quietly.Since women and children were executed, the defense was not strict.However, in front of them, there was clearly a head that had begun to rot, it was Xiuci's head. There are different opinions about this execution.Some people said that Hideyoshi wanted the local hooligans in Beijing to remember this bloody massacre, so that the world would never dare to plot rebellion.In front of Xiuci's head, more than a dozen executioners poured water on the white blades and lined up.They began to call the criminals by name, starting with the children, and seated them one by one on the ground. Sitting in a row, the faces of young children have changed color.Even animals, when dragged into a slaughterhouse, will instinctively feel fear, let alone humans?The sound of mourning was endless, and it was unbearable to hear. At this time, there was a sound of chanting Buddha on the river beach.Not only the mothers of the children, but all the women waiting to be executed cried out, it was the last resistance they could make.The surrounding audience also shouted in unison.Naturally, the people's hatred was directed at the person who came to supervise the execution - Shaosuke Ishida Jibu and Lieutenant Masudaemon who had set up a tent on the west bank of the river and sat side by side. After the execution of the children was completed, the execution supervisor shouted the name of Ichigodai.Yutai, the daughter of Juting Qingji, is dressed in pure white today.She straightened her body and recited the desperate poem she had prepared long ago with a soft but penetrating voice: 〖Floating life is like a dream, what can I say when I leave the world? 〗 The person who was called for the first time was Mrs. Xiao Shangla's wife.She is the daughter of a third-rank lieutenant general, only sixteen this year.She was wearing a purple tulle dress with willow green inside, and a silk shawl outside, and half of her black hair was cut off and draped over her shoulders.She bowed respectfully to Xiuci's head three times, and also recited her deadly poem: 〖Although life is short in the dew on the flower, it is also sweet to die for a confidante with a poor life! 〗 Just finished reading Jueming Poetry, this woman's decapitation is gone. The third one is Mrs. Agui, the biological mother of the eldest daughter of Hideji.She was born in the Shinshu Temple in Kohama, Settsu. She couldn't bear to look at the dead body of her daughter in front of her, so she covered her eyes with a rosary and began to recite a poem: 〖Amitabha Buddha showed mercy and saved me from my stupidity to bliss...〗 The ones who were beheaded after the second time were Xian Chiyo's biological mother and Zi's wife.She is the daughter of Hibino Shimono Mori, a samurai of Owari, and she is only eighteen this year.After Mrs. Kazuko was beheaded, Momomaru's biological mother was also beheaded. It seemed that everyone was ready to finish reciting the deadly poems one by one, and to die calmly.However, people can no longer hear their poems at this time.No one considered the executed to be guilty.Their remains were dug and buried by untouchables.The viewers were all filled with righteous indignation: "How could such a cruel thing happen!" "Buried like this, it's not even as good as ordinary people!" "Pray for them, poor souls." "The Taige's world is coming to an end. God and Buddha will never spare him for his crimes like this!" The angry voices became louder and louder, and the executioners became more and more nervous.When beheading Mrs. Acha, the birth mother of Tumaru, Mrs. Sako, Mrs. Awan, Mrs. Yumen, Mrs. Azi, and Mrs. Yiman, the birth mothers of Tumaru and Mrs. Yiman, the raging waves of denouncing the atrocities have completely flooded the entire execution ground, causing earthquakes The mountain shakes.When it was Madam Shizhi's turn, sixteen women were beheaded.The major general's wife, Mrs. Zaemon, and Mrs. Youemon followed closely behind.Then, Ichiyutai's daughters, A Gong, A Ju, and Drinking Shi, were also beheaded.When the executioner stood behind Ah Song, who was only twelve years old, someone finally couldn't bear it anymore and flew out a stone. Asong, the daughter of Mrs. Uemon, hugged her mother's body and wept bitterly. The executioner was a little at a loss. He grabbed Asong's loose hair and dragged her over.But the big knife did not cut off the head, but cut into the shoulder, and suddenly, heart-piercing wailing resounded through the sky.The executioner was so frightened that he yelled at the untouchables who were burying the body, and the untouchables hurriedly threw Ah Song, who was not dead, into the burial pit.Zoe, Gu Bao, Kana, Zhu and others who are about to be sentenced get up and run away.They were all fifteen or sixteen-year-old girls, so they were naturally terrified.The scene was chaotic, and the three river beaches painted a picture of hell on earth under the blue sky and white sun... Among the onlookers, some fainted on the spot, some vomited continuously, some hid their faces and fled, and some meticulously recorded the situation at that time.There is no one who does not feel that the sky is dark and the sky is bloody.The execution time was less than half an hour, but probably not many people watched it from beginning to end.All those who have seen the situation today will probably never forget this bloody scene in their lifetime. "Taige is too scary." "No, that's not Taiko-sama's instruction, it's all the meaning of that evil ghost Ishida Jibu." "Oh. Once Hideyori rules the world, the Jibu can do whatever he wants." Not only the people in the capital, but even the warriors, many people blamed Sancheng for the tragedy.People miss the old Hideyoshi.The situation of 30% became very embarrassing.In the eyes of the common people, he is a snob, and his unruly behavior aroused great resentment from the common people. "You heard it, right? The Zhibu is now the target of thousands of people." After the supervisor Sancheng and others left, a samurai who meticulously recorded the whole process on the river beach walked under the bridge, raised the bamboo hat on his head, Said to another man who looked like a master. "Yes, he abused his power under the guise of standing up for the Taiko." The man replied, and walked towards Teramachi - he was Sakai Tadakatsu who came to watch the execution, and the samurai was Sugihara Kiyoshi. "Although he has tried his best to establish authority for his master, which can be regarded as an act of loyalty, but it is not worthwhile to be reviled by thousands of people." "That's right. The so-called loyalty... among us Tokugawa clan, Honda Masanobu is the most hated. No, maybe I and Ibi Masanobu are even worse. Forget it, let's not talk about it. It's hard to put Write down today's situation, and go back and report to your lord." After finishing speaking, Zhong Sheng spat, "It doesn't matter on the battlefield, but killing a group of unarmed women and children is really embarrassing." "The bodies were kicked into the pit just like that." "It's simply a burial mound for animals. It's disgusting." "We adults usually don't even want to kill a bug." "Let's not talk about that for now. Kissing, who are you going to write to blame? Heaven, Earth, Taige, or Jibu, Mrs. Nishimaru, and Mr. Hideyori?" Kissing her tongue, she said, "Your Excellency is really compassionate." "So, you still have to write 30%? Of course, if you don't write it like this, the people will not agree. The people support the Taige." "But Taige also has places you can't see, otherwise what happened today would not have happened." "This is the crux of the problem. There are always places that people's eyes can't see. The growth of age will certainly lead to this kind of tragedy, but the desire for power is also one of the reasons. Besides, Taige still had a child in his later years. This incident After that, your lord will go to Beijing." When Zhongsheng carefully reported the specific situation to Jiakang, Jiakang didn't say a word.Zhongsheng really wanted to know Jiakang's thoughts, so he tempted him to say, "Taige and Guan Bai are both unfortunate." But Ieyasu said something vague, and the next day, he went to Fushimi Castle. In fact, Ieyasu really felt that he had nothing to say.People have conflicts due to desires, and it is difficult to distinguish between good and evil, even if the distinction is clear, it is meaningless.Either party is responsible and deserves sympathy.It was only when Hideyoshi, his wife and children were executed that people realized Hideyoshi's old age and impatience.After Xiuci's seppuku, Hideyoshi hurriedly went to the court, demanding that Xiuci be dismissed from his position as Guanbai, and strictly ordered to dismantle Juledi.As soon as he decided to let Maeda Toshiie serve as Hiderai's assistant minister, he hurriedly feasted the guests... What's even more ridiculous is that he danced with joy when he learned that Li Zongcheng, the envoy of the Ming Dynasty, had set off from Beijing for Busan. Congratulations, gratification, congratulations. The war has finally come to an end. Oh, the marriage I mentioned before..." Hideyoshi turned around and called Ieyasu to him, regardless of whether Ieyasu was happy or not, he insisted on giving Chacha's sister to Xiuzhong.Tatsuki married as Hideyoshi's adopted daughter. Although the Tokugawa family did not refuse, when appointing this marriage, from Hideyoshi, I can neither see the boldness and boldness when forcing Asahi Hime to Ieyasu in the past, nor feel that he has nothing to do. Fear of boldness, on the contrary, he makes people feel like he is deliberately pleasing Ieyasu, a little servile, as if Ieyasu is giving him alms. The wedding took place on the seventeenth of September.Many of Hideyoshi's close officials were not happy about this, but Hideyoshi felt at ease.As long as Ieyasu continued to assist him as a relative, the daimyos would not dare to make trouble... Although the marriage seemed forced, Hideyoshi's wishful thinking was still successful, and he couldn't help but feel happy. Taiko is really old, and Ieyasu believes that the direct cause of accelerating his aging is the matter of Xiuji.In the past, Hideyoshi, when it came to fighting and fighting, immediately believed in it, but the disputes between the flesh and blood had never exhausted him physically and mentally.In early November, Hideyoshi fell ill. At this time, President Xiaoxi and others in Busan were having a secret discussion with Shen Weijing, trying to find a way to fool Li Zongcheng, the envoy of the Ming Dynasty, so that the negotiation could be successful.Rumors abounded in Fushimi City, saying that after Jule Building was demolished, the undead spirits of Hideji's wife and concubine were attached to the utensils shipped out.Hideyoshi has been talking nonsense since then, he seems to be out of his mind...