On April 1, the fifth year of Tianwen (1536), in the castle tower of Huacang City.
"Master Lengquan, don't waste your breath." Fukushima Masashige bit the bandage with his teeth and wrapped it around his bloody right arm. He said to Lengquan sitting opposite him, "If it weren't for you. , I have blasted him out a long time ago."
"The Fukushima family is an important minister of the Imagawa family. They have served the Imagawa family for many generations. Is it worth burying the entire family for a traitor who killed the master?" Lengquan Weihe seemed to still not give up and continued to persuade.
"I have said many times that the Third Young Master is definitely not that kind of person. I am more familiar with that child than you are. It was indeed him who ambushed the Fourth Young Master in order to seize the family governor, but he would never do anything to assassinate the current family governor." Fukushima Masashige finished wrapping the bandage and adjusted his sitting posture.
"His Royal Highness the Family Governor has made it clear that as long as the Fukushima family is willing to surrender, the family crest can still be preserved and the territory will not be completely lost..."
"But he is still unwilling to spare the life of the third young master." Fukushima Masashige sneered, "This is the only condition of the Fukushima family. If you don't agree, there is no need to talk."
"His Royal Highness, the Governor of the Household, has already relented and was willing to keep his brother alive. He is so kind and sincere. It was Xue Zhai and Ni Ootai who made up their mind to commit suicide by Imakawa Yoshima." Lengquan Weihe truthfully informed the Imagawa family of the situation and did not hide anything. , "They said that Imagawa Yoshima was talented and ruthless, and he would definitely be able to win over the retainers again in the future and threaten His Highness the Governor of the Household. However, this son had evil intentions and actually intended to sell out the interests of the Imagawa family and cede the east of the river to the Hojo family. Such a disloyal and talented person You must not keep these people, otherwise they will become troublesome in the future."
"What do you think of Master Lengquan?"
"The old monk is not as realistic as Xue Zhai and Ni Yudai think. The old monk only knows that Imagawa Yoshizhin murdered the late master, so the old monk naturally wants to cut him into pieces." Lengquan Weihe mentioned his deceased student. Imagawa Ujiteru's tone became cold again.
"Then there's no need to talk." Fukushima Masashige shook his head, picked up the tea and wanted to send the guests away, but several drops of pus and blood on his arm fell into the cup.
"Are you willing to destroy the Fukushima family's century-old foundation like this? Your Majesty Echizen, you are also a loyal and upright minister of the family. The old monk cannot bear to see you die in vain."
"How can a loyal minister betray his master for glory? The third young master is the lord supported by me, Fukushima Masashige." Fukushima Masashige put down the tea cup and said sincerely for the last time, "I was the one who encouraged him to start an army to fight for the family governor. All responsibilities can be taken by him. I’ll take it on, I’m even willing to lead all the Fukushima family samurai to commit seppuku to atone for the sins of the Third Young Master, please keep an open mind.”
"I have already said that Imagawa Yoshima must die." Lengquan sighed for Hehe.
"Then I'll trouble you, master, to tell the 'current governor'." Fukushima Masashige drank the bowl of blood tea in one gulp, and then smashed the tea bowl on the table. "The whole Fukushima family is in Hanakang City for The Lord was buried as a sacrificial warrior in the spirit of loyalty and righteousness. He deserves to be worthy of his ancestors, and worthy of his late master."
·
After sending Leng Quan away for peace, Fukushima Masashige put his hands behind his back and climbed onto the wall of Hanakura Castle Honmaru. The corpses all over the wall made it difficult for him to find a place to stay, and the blood on the wall could almost cover it. Feet. The Fukushima family's flags on the wall were already in pieces, while the Imagawa army under the city once again set up their positions and launched the offensive again. They have been holding on for many days, and now they are finally reaching their limit. Fukushima Masashige drew his knife in his hand and looked at the scarred remnant behind him but still willing to follow.
However, before he could give the order, a violent noise came from the west gate of the Honmaru. Fukushima Masashige didn't have much energy left, so he just turned around slowly to look - Fukushima Katsunari, the head of the Fukushima family branch who was guarding the west gate, took the lead in surrendering and was opening the city gate to welcome the Imagawa army into the city.
"It's just something that will happen sooner or later." Fukushima Masashige smiled miserably in the sunset, and calmly accepted the outcome of defeat, "In troubled times, not everyone can be a loyal minister. No matter how loyal a minister or a good person, they can't survive. Yes."
"Esunari, please come and explain my mistake. Arrange people to send Katsu Chiyo to break out and escape." Fukushima Masashige looked at his clan brother Fukushima Esege who was following behind him, another pathetic loyal minister, "Old lord, I'm here to help you. The Imagawa family has served the public all their lives and feels that they have no regrets in their hearts, so I will come down to see you."
·
"The castle tower burned down?"
The Imagawa troops who entered the city were shocked to find that the castle tower of Huacang Castle was already burning. They thought that since Fukushima Masashige had committed seppuku on the city wall, he would not burn the castle tower again.
"Imagawa Yoshima may be inside." Lengquan Weihe, who was accompanying the army, reported to Imagawa clan Yuanhui, "The old monk entered the city before and has not seen Imagawa Yoshima anywhere else. He is most likely on the top of the castle tower."
Before he finished speaking, Okabe Otsuna, the vanguard, was seen stepping out of the queue, leading a group of flags and rushing towards the castle tower where the flames were blazing into the sky. Okabe Hisatsuna, Okabe Sadatsuna and the people around them couldn't persuade them no matter how hard they tried, so they had no choice but to follow them along with them. When Imagawa Ujimoto hurriedly came down from the city wall and rushed to the castle tower, he saw Okabe Oyatsuna, who had multiple burns all over his body and was blackened by smoke, running out of the castle tower. As soon as his front legs came out and he took a few breaths, the castle tower's back legs collapsed in the blazing fire.
"Sakyo Susumu (Okabe Chitsuna)?" Imagawa Ujimoto was frightened by Okabe Chitsuna's actions, and hurriedly came up to him and said, "Why is this? Even for the head of Imagawa Yoshima, there is no need to do this. Are you in danger? You almost died in the fire..."
"I'm afraid that the family heirlooms left by our ancestors will be burned." Okabe Otsuna wiped his hands with the burnt clothes, then put his hands that changed color into his arms and took out the "Ryuumaru" He came out, then knelt down on one knee and presented his hands to Imagawa Ujimoto, "Please accept it, Your Highness, the Governor."
"Just for this knife..." Imagawa Ujimoto took the knife in confusion. Compared to Okabe Otsuna, who was completely disfigured by smoke, the sword he was protecting in his arms was in good condition.
"Ryuumaru is the sword carried by Taro Hachiman (Minamoto no Yoshitomi). It has been passed down from generation to generation by the governor of the Imagawa family. It is the proof of the bloodline and glory of the Imagawa family, and it is also the object of the will of the ancestors. I witnessed with my own eyes that my old master used this sword before he died of illness. He gave it to the late master and told him to respect the sword like his father. The late master cried bitterly and swore to abide by it. When the late master was here, he wiped and maintained the sword every day. When he got up in the morning and went to bed at night, he would kneel down and bow respectfully. He never neglected it."
Recalling the past events of the two late masters, the tone of Okabe Okabe, a rough and arrogant samurai, also became rare and delicate. Then he leaned forward and bowed to Imagawa clan Motoichi, "The ancestor is weak, and I have repeatedly told you that if one day he encounters Unfortunately, I am unable to hand over Ryuumaru personally, so I will ask him to hand it over to the next family governor. I also hope that Your Highness, you will serve this sword as you serve your father and brother, inherit the glory of the Imagawa family, and live up to your trust."
"Serving this sword is like serving your father and brother...?" Imagawa Shiyuan murmured, but he was filled with sadness in his heart.
But my father and brother don't care about me at all. They have been a monk for more than ten years and have never visited me or written to me once. They discarded me like worn-out shoes and treated me like grass. My mother didn't care about my son at all. She didn't even care that I was ambushed. She even wanted to kill me herself for the sake of the Imagawa family. In their eyes, I am probably just a tool with the blood of the Imagawa family, a tool they pushed to the position of family governor to stabilize the situation. As for me, Mei Yue Chengfang, myself, a living person, why do they have any concern at all?
If this is the ruthlessness of the Wu family in troubled times, if this is the glory of this cold-blooded family, if this is the Imagawa family...
Imagawa Ujimoto sighed again and squeezed Ryumaru's scabbard tightly, wanting to crush it into pieces.
How do you want me to serve this sword?
It’s really...no way.
·
On April 1, the fifth year of Tianwen (1536), Huacang Castle fell, and the entire Fukushima family was wiped out. However, even after searching the entire city, Imagawa Yoshima was still not found, and important members of the Fukushima family were also tight-lipped about Imagawa Yoshima's whereabouts. Taiyuan Xuezhai suspected that Imagawa Yoshizhen might even have escaped before the siege. The Fukushima family's stubborn resistance to reveal the whereabouts of Imagawa Yoshima also brought an end to the family's history.
On April 3, the fifth year of Tianwen (1536), in the wilderness outside Hanakura Castle, except for a few escapees, all the men of the Fukushima family were tied up here. On the orders of Taiyuan Xuezhai, all of them are about to be executed. Among these men, there was only one exception - he was Fukushima Katsunari, who opened the city gate to let the Imagawa army enter the city that day. The Fukushima family was divided into heads. He could have used this skill to save the lives of the branch family, but his own concubine took advantage of the surrender to assassinate the Okabe family samurai, and finally brought death to the branch family.
In the end, Taiyuan Xuezhai only spared Fukushima Katsunari, his wife and his legitimate son Fukushima Achiyo, and demoted them as slaves. However, Taiyuan Xuezai also prepared a different kind of punishment for Fukushima Katsunari - this punishment was even more uncomfortable than death for a samurai - allowing Fukushima Katsunari to be imprisoned at the scene where the male members of the Fukushima family were executed. At this moment, he stood beside the execution platform, watching his former relatives being tied to the executioner one after another.
Every warrior who passed by him would spit in his face and call him a bloody name. Fukushima Katsunari's face was pale at this moment, and there was blood oozing out from the corner of his mouth. Among them, the most scolded one was Fukushima Masashige's younger brother Fukushima Ese. After Fukushima Masashige made an error for committing seppuku, Fukushima Ese led the remnants of his troops and fought a bloody battle with the Imagawa army until the end, and was captured after exhaustion.
"Traitor, Fukushima Katsunari, you are a traitor!" When Fukushima Enari was being escorted from Fukushima Katsunari, he pushed away the escorts, held his head high, and raised his neck to face Fukushima Katsunari. Cursed:
"Your Highness treats you very well, and the Fukushima family treats you very well, but as a member of the Fukushima family, you repay kindness with hatred! Kaicheng collaborates with the enemy! You bring shame to the Fukushima family! You bring shame to all our ancestors! You let The countless Fukushima family samurai who died heroically in this battle have been humiliated! You have made the Fukushima family, who could have sacrificed their lives and left a name in history, become a laughing stock! Future generations will only remember you, a beast who forgets his ancestors and is unfaithful and unfilial! Even if we forget Even if he transforms into a vicious ghost, he will haunt you day and night, wanting you to have a bad death! He will also want your whole family to have a bad life..."
"The whole family cannot be well..."
"No..."
Halfway through the scolding, Fukushima Eunari suddenly stumbled and was speechless. Because among the crowd of onlookers, he saw his elderly mother, his frail wife and his three-year-old daughter who was holding his wife's hand.
The white-haired old mother saw her son being pushed to the ground and about to be executed. She suddenly fell to the ground with her mouth open, unable to even cry. The wife covered her face with her hands and did not dare to look, but tears could not stop rolling down her cheeks. The three-year-old girl didn't understand what was happening, and she didn't know what her grandmother and mother were crying about. She seemed to be shouting, "Why is daddy kneeling! Go help daddy up!" and struggled to cry. In front of her, she was held tightly by her mother, who was almost in human form.
"Ah Chun, take your mother and child back. Don't stay here! What's there to see?" Fukushima Ese shouted to his family members in the distance at the top of his lungs. The sound of the executioner's knife behind him seemed so harsh at the moment. , "Mom! The child died loyal to the Lord. He died beautifully! Don't cry for the child! Don't cry for the child..."
The sound of the executioner drawing the knife came from behind. Fukushima Ese's Adam's apple squirmed and his mouth opened, but in the end the sentence was not uttered——
Mom, Ah Chun, baby...you must live a good life in the future.
In this era, it was a shame for a samurai to reveal his true feelings before his death. On the contrary, his words of loyalty win more praise and applause from the world. The world doesn't care about the orphans and widows behind the deceased. They only care about whether your death can add something to talk about after dinner.
Countless warriors knew this well and praised their predecessors who sacrificed their lives heroically, while scorning those who sacrificed their love for their children. Are they unaware of the weird values that have been created, or have they been domesticated, or are they aware of it but willing to do so. Nobody knows.
With one strike of the knife, the vivid painting of life disappeared.
