Imagawa Ujimoto, along with Hayasaka Nao and a small team of guards, rushed to Kakegawa Castle in Sano County in the eastern part of Toe Province on the evening of April 6, the fifth year of Tenmon (1536), which was also the residence of the Asahina family. The disheveled Asahina Yasuno was waiting for the arrival of Imagawajimoto at the gate of Sannomaru early in the morning. After seeing Imagawajimoto turning over and dismounting in front of the door, he picked up a wine bottle and stuffed it into Imagawajimoto's hand, and opened it himself. Got a bottle.
"Fourth Young Master, I am now Your Highness. Come, take a swig from this cup to celebrate Your Majesty's succession to the throne!" Asahina Asahina invited enthusiastically, regardless of her own cheeks which were already red from drinking.
"Brother, there are still military affairs..." Asahina Taichang on the side was afraid that Imagawa Clan would be dissatisfied, so he hurriedly said to smooth things over, "At least, please invite your highness to the city before..."
"Hey! We can't mess with the rules when we have military affairs. We are at the gate of Kaikawa Castle and no guests are allowed in without drinking a glass of wine." Asahina Taino thought carelessly, and then he drank it all in one gulp, and then He gestured to Imagawa Shimoto and said, "Your Highness, please!"
"What Bichushou said is that there is no reason to give up drinking because of military affairs? Drinking is not much more interesting than military affairs?" Imagawa Ujimoto responded with a smile, and drank it all in one gulp. Asahina Taino immediately laughed with satisfaction.
"Your Highness, I'm so proud of you!" After saying that, Asahina Yasuno asked Imagawa Ujimoto to mount the horse again, then took the reins from Hayasaka Nao's hand, and drunkenly led Imagawa Ujimoto's horse in person, "Then I'll take the reins for you." If you can, you have to give your Highness some face, right?"
Walking behind Asahina Taino, Asahina Taicho turned sideways and asked Asahina Taichi, who was also following behind, "Brother, do you think he is really drunk?"
"Drunk, didn't you see that my brother is staggering when he walks? You drank so much in the morning, how can you not be drunk?" Asahina Taichi shrugged his shoulders, and then said meaningfully, "But he's not drunk either... He is leading the horse to the wealthy families in the whole Yuanjiang River. Your Highness is still young, and he has just succeeded to the throne through civil strife, so there are always people who are dissatisfied. But if even the most important minister in the family is willing to put down his body and personally hold the rein... His Highness's The prestige suddenly rose.”
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After entering the city, Asahina Yasuno introduced Imagawa Ujimoto to the castle tower, where important officials from the Sena family, the Ogasawara family and the Matsui family had already been waiting.
The Sena clan comes from the Enokawa clan, a branch of the Imagawa clan. Its ancestor is the third generation of the Imagawa clan, the son of Imagawa Noriguni, the famous Kyushu Tankai Imagawa Sadashi. His elder brother Imagawa Noroshi was granted the title of Suruga, and became the Suruga Imagawa clan of the Imagawa clan. When the Toe-Imagawa clan passed down to the sixth generation, the head of the Suruga-Imagawa clan, Imagawa Norizada, was awarded the honor of "the best Miao character in the world" due to his great contributions. As a branch of the clan, the Toe-Imagawa clan had to change its Miao character.
The eldest son of the sixth generation of the Toe Imagawa clan, Imagawa Sadanobu, changed his Miao name to Sena, in honor of Sena Kazuhide, the founder of the Sena clan; the second son changed his name to Horikoshi, in honor of Horikoshi Sadaki, the founder of the Horikoshi clan. The current head of the Sena clan, Sena Kazuhide's son Sena clan is a supporter of the Imagawa clan; while Horikoshi Sadaki and his son Horikoshi clan nobu have joined the Imagawa Ryoshin side and are gathering troops to attack the stronghold of Toe country. Horse city.
The Toe Ogasawara family is the branch of Shinano that protects the Ogasawara clan. The current head, Ogasawara Haruyoshi, married the daughter of the Imagawa clan and the sister of the Imagawa clan, and became a member of the Imagawa clan.
The Matsui Sadamune of the Matsui family was a veteran of the Imagawa clan's period. Because of his loyalty, he was named the castle lord and was in charge of Futama Castle, the strategic point of the distant river. His son Matsui Munonobu was one of the leading military captains of the Imagawa family banner, and he was also very powerful. In the original history, Matsui Sonobu was also one of the few samurai who was able to mount a strong resistance when Imagawa Yoshimoto encountered a surprise attack in Okezama. In order to protect Imagawa Yoshimoto, he fought desperately in front of Ma Yin until his entire army was wiped out and he himself died on the battlefield. His martial prowess made even the samurai of the Oda family fear him.
Although the leader of the Sena clan, Sadad Sena, was only in his 40s, his eyesight seemed to have declined severely. He squinted and stared for a long time. He didn't recognize Imagawa clan until he came closer and saluted hurriedly. Ogasawara Haruyoshi was also very respectful to his brother-in-law. He did not show off based on family ties and gave him a grand gift as if he had seen the governor. As a veteran of the Imagawa family, Matsui Sadamune was naturally very kind to Imagawa Clan Moto who came from Suruga to put down the rebellion, and bowed to the end.
"I'm not going to hide it from you, I'm a newbie, I don't know anything about military and government affairs, and I'm not sure what to do right now. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to speak up." After Imagawa Shigen sat down on the main seat, he immediately felt helpless. The arrogant person asked for advice. After hearing this, Sena Shizada was unambiguous and said directly: "Your Highness, Imagawa Yoshima is now stationed in Hima Castle with the support of the Horikoshi family and the Iio family. The Okuhira family, Toda family, and Kira family in Mikawa are all supporting him. It expressed support and sent reinforcements, and it has gathered 3,000 troops."
"What about the other wealthy families in Yuanjiang? Have they made a statement?" Imagawa Ujimoto asked.
"Toe is different from Suruga. Due to the constant war between our ancestors and the Imagawa clan, hostages have never been sent to Imagawa Hall, so it is more difficult to control. We have not received any news yet." Ogasawara Haruyoshi answered for Sena Ujisada, "At present, our troops are not as strong as the rebels. Our first task is to persuade other Yuanjiang people and wealthy families to join us and jointly put down the rebellion."
"Okay, I will write a letter to lobby them in person right away. As for the deployment and arrangements of military affairs, I may need to trouble Beichushou." Imagawa Ujimoto looked at Asahina Taino, who nodded knowingly, and then spoke casually. He said, "Then after the meeting is over, I will go over the plan and inform His Highness Mutsu (Sena Uji Sada) and Sakyo (Ogasawara Haruyoshi)."
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After the meeting, everyone left the assessment room one after another. But not long after, Sena Shisada left and returned with his son Sena Shishun. Sena Ujitoshi is about the same age as Imagawa Ujimoto, and they are both talented, but their facial features are much softer. At this moment, he was following his father without saying a word, his eyes red.
"Kneel down and apologize to His Majesty the Governor." Sena Shizada turned his head, and his low-pitched words were full of intimidation to Sena Shitoshi. The latter did not dare to say anything, and knelt down obediently, then took out a letter from his arms with both hands and handed it to Imagawa Shimoto.
"What is this?" Imagawa Ujimoto asked as he waved to Hayasaka Nao to get the letter for him.
"Your Highness, I submit. I am the daughter of Horikoshi Sadaki. Before the rebellion broke out, she returned to her parents' home to visit her relatives, but was detained by Horikoshi Sadaki and Imagawa Yoshima. They threatened to kill us if we, the Sena family, did not join the rebels. You bitch." Sena Shizada told her wife's experience without any emotion on her face, as if the matter had nothing to do with her. But Imagawa Ujimoto could tell that he was trying to control it, but he was just hiding it well.
"I am very loyal to the Imagawa family, so naturally I am unmoved. I have handed over the threatening letter to the Imagawa Hall. However, it seems that I have just passed by His Highness, but Master Yuksai should have received it." Sena Shizada raised his head and said this. After saying that, his tone dropped slightly, and he lowered his head in shame, looking at Sena Ujitoshi who was kneeling on the ground with a look of hatred.
"It's just that I don't know how to teach my son. When I refused the request, the traitor still didn't give up and sent a threatening letter to the traitor. But the traitor couldn't distinguish right from wrong. Instead of taking the initiative to hand over the letter, he came to lobby me to join the traitor side. I have already I have educated the rebellious son at home, but it is still not enough. So I brought him here to personally apologize to His Highness, the Governor, to prevent him from having these evil thoughts in the future."
"Main Palace atones. I deserve to die for my crime." Sena Shitoshi heard the words and immediately bowed down. Imagawa Shimoto looked at Sena Shitoshi and could see from the lapel of his clothes that his chest was covered with blood from the whip. It seemed that I have really been "educated".
"But didn't Mutsu Mamoru say that your daughter is the daughter of Horikoshi Sadaki? How could Horikoshi Sadaki murder his daughter's life?" Imagawa Moto just asked this question in confusion, but he had already begun to laugh at his own "Pedantry" - didn't his mother just want to kill her own child for the benefit of the family not long ago?
Sure enough, Sena Ujisada gave the same answer: "Your Highness, troubled times are no better than peacetime, and family ties are insignificant in the face of family and loyalty. If this is the case for you, then the same is naturally true for the traitors. If you can coerce the Sena family, just a woman What does it mean to him?"
At this moment, Toshiya Sena, who had been kneeling on the ground, quietly raised his head and whispered in a trembling voice: "Then Imagawa Yoshima and my grandfather cut off one of my mother's fingers and put it in a letter. I sent it here and I was frightened when I saw it. So I was obsessed with evil thoughts and wanted to save my mother. Because...because...because..."
Because of the following words, Sena Ujitoshi spoke many times but could not say them in the end. Tears remained unsatisfied, and he pursed his lips to prevent crying, as if he felt that it was very embarrassing for him to cry because of such a thing. Sena Ujisada was also ashamed of her son's crying and glared at him fiercely. Sena Shitoshi was startled and hurriedly wiped his face to stop the tears. But when he thought about his mother's safety, when he thought about his mother's pain, when when he thought about how helpless and scared his mother must be at this moment, Sena Shitoshi's tears couldn't stop flowing more and more, and finally he let out a faint whimpering sound.
"I really don't know how to teach my son, which makes His Highness the Family Governor laugh at." Seeing her son's behavior, Sena Shisada felt even more ashamed and angry, "I can't make a choice between my children's personal relationship, family interests, and loyalty. It is really a shame for the Wu family to act like a little girl. After you return, you will be disciplined strictly."
"Is it because you feel sorry for your mother?"
Imagawa Ujimoto ignored Sena Jisada, but helped Sena Jijun say what he had been ashamed to say just now. Sena Toshiro cried even harder when he heard this, but while crying he struggled to kowtow and apologize, saying in defense: "The family governor is scolding me! I have violated the loyalty of the samurai family and brought shame to the Sena family! I have treated Imagawa so well. I am loyal to His Highness, and I hope Your Highness will forgive you for this gaffe!"
"Sena, don't cry. Lift your head."
Imagawa Jimoto was unmoved, but raised his hand to point at Sena Jijun, looking at the tear-stained cheeks raised in confusion, and looking at the tear-filled eyes looking at him helplessly. .
"In the name of the family governor, I want you to remember this." Imagawa Ujimoto took out a green-edged folding fan, lit it on Sena Ujitoshi, and said to Sena Ujitoshi very solemnly:
"Having 'love' in one's heart is not something to be ashamed of. It is at least much more worthy of pride than 'loyalty to one's family'."
