Before the group set off again, Ginkgo took an opportunity when no one was around and asked Imagawa Ujimoto.
"Sir, why did you sacrifice your life to block the knife for me earlier? Haven't you always said that life is short and you should enjoy it? How could you risk your life so easily?"
"Didn't I answer it before?" Imagawa Shimoto himself felt a little unbelievable when he recalled his crazy behavior moved by love at that time, so he prevaricated his answer.
"Answer? What answer?" Ginkgo asked suspiciously.
"Your tenth question." Imagawa Shimoto said with a smile.
Ginkgo tilted her little head, frowning and thinking for a while before realizing what Imagawa Ujimoto meant. This young girl who had always been generous and never lost in an argument suddenly blushed and lowered her head in embarrassment.
"Answering with a knife does not count." After a moment, Ginkgo adjusted her expression and put on the air of an intimate elder sister teasing her juniors. She looked at Imagawa Ujimoto with a smile, "I want to listen to Mr. Come answer."
That moving smile made Imagawa Shimoto feel fascinated. She blushed even more embarrassedly than Ginkgo, lowered her head, and walked away quickly.
·
On May 9, the fifth year of Tenmon (1536), a group of six people arrived at the Kamazana Castle Castle Town in Sakata County, Omi Province. Here, they had to stop again because of the war.
"The Asai family and the Rokkaku family are fighting." Hayasaka Nao, who came back from asking for directions, reported to Imagawa Ujimoto and others who were waiting in the private room on the second floor of the inn, "The battlefield is not far to the south, and the official line is temporarily closed. They have all been requisitioned by the Asai family and pedestrians are not allowed to pass.”
"Can we go around the mountain road?" As a mountain person, Nakasugi Tora Chiyo naturally thought of his favorite mountain road.
"It is said that the Rokkaku family was defeated, and many stragglers fled to the nearby mountains. It may not be very peaceful." Hayasaka Nao said while pointing to many caravans who also stopped to rest beside the official road, "Those caravans have The guards of dozens of people are afraid to go on the road at this moment. Looking down, we are still..."
"I don't know when the fight will be finished." Imagawa Ujimoto opened the window and looked at the smoke and dust rising faintly to the south. A number of Asai family Ashigaru with Mimori tortoise shell rhombuses could be seen rushing towards the south. support. And a group of people came from the opposite direction to them. Many warriors on tall horses were escorting a large group of disgraced common people. They were in ragged clothes, walking barefoot in the mud, with their hands tied behind their backs. Hundreds of them were tied into a long strip, and they walked northward in silence under the whips of the warriors.
"Who are those?" Ginkgo asked.
"So that the lady knows that they are all citizens of the Rokkaku family." A middle-aged man dressed as a samurai from the Asai family at the next table laughed and boasted, "They are all captured randomly. There is no shortage of slaves in Xiaotani City now. ”
However, Imagawa Yoshimoto and others did not know that this middle-aged man was Tsunayika Kaiboku, one of the "Three Generals of Asai Iekai Akaame" who would become famous in the future.
"How could you do such a thing?" Kira Weicheng slapped the tea cup on the table with some annoyance, "How come the Asai family is arresting other people?"
"Looking at the accent, this strong man must be a merchant from the Eastern Kingdom. I don't know that things here in Omi are normal." Tsunauchika Kaiboku has a good temper, and patiently explained to Kira Uisei, "It's been going on for decades. It was the Minami Omi Rokkaku family who bullied us Kitanomi people. Every time the Rokkaku army crossed the border, the towns and cities of Kitanomi were in a mess and were completely looted. If they did not flee, they would be captured and taken back to Minami Omi like these people. Become slaves. Now that our Asai family is finally proud and proud under the leadership of our lord, why can't we come back with revenge? This is a battle of revenge for us Kitanomi people!"
"The Asai family will win!" The words of the Asai family samurai caused the Kitaomi samurai and the common people in the store to cheer in unison, and the crowd was full of excitement.
"All wars are unjust. Feng Shui takes turns, and offensive and defensive forces are different. But no matter which side wins, it is the common people who suffer." Ginkgo couldn't bear to look at the hardworking people on the official road who were driven to leave their homes and live as slaves for life. Instead, she glanced coldly at People in the store said, "Revenge and righteousness are just excuses for the Wu family. Whoever provokes or engages in war will be the sinner of the people."
"What did this young lady say? I don't care about you, a female prostitute." Another young Asai family samurai sneered at Ginkgo's words. He was another one of the "Three Generals of Umi Akame" - Akao Kiyooka: "Only The Rokkaku family is attacking us? We can't fight back? If you put it that way, those who fight are sinners. If the Rokkajiao family comes over, we can't fight back? Are we not sinners as long as we surrender and return home without our armor? We can be worthy of the people. ?”
Ginkgo shook her head and re-explained her opinion:
"When I say that all wars are unjust, I don't mean that you can't resist. When the enemy comes to attack, you can only fight. But it doesn't mean that if you are forced to fight, your war is just. War means Killing and war will kill people, and many innocent people will die. Killing and death cannot be just things in any case. When you start a war to defend your homeland, you are actually forced to do unjust things, although the crime is not You are the aggressors, but this war is not something to be proud of."
"I just can't stand your attitude towards war. When you win, you celebrate, and when you lose, you seek revenge. How can war be understood if this continues? Everyone should be ashamed of war, and even if they win, they will die for it. People feel sad instead of cheering for victory.”
The good-tempered Tsunauchi Kaiboku spoke again. "War makes people suffer, and we know that. But in war, we must distinguish between good and evil, right? When the Rokkaku family attacks us, we must protect our family and country, and we must fight back with revenge. Isn't this a just war?"
"It's true to protect the family and the country, but revenge has nothing to do with justice, right? The fact that you captured other people's innocent people has nothing to do with justice, right?" Imagawa Ujimoto raised his hand, indicating that Ginkgo, who was about to retort, did not have to speak. , but he said loudly:
"If a war wants to be just, it must comply with both the just purpose of the war and the just wartime means. Only wars for self-defense and security are just, and all wars that seek to expand territory and seek benefits are unjust. , and wars driven by personal feelings such as revenge have nothing to do with justice. In war, you must also keep the right path. Your targets can only be enemy soldiers, so how can you attack innocent people? Sometimes you are forced to do so. There is still room for discussion about hurting innocent people. The Asai family's planned enslavement of the people of Minamiomi is completely contrary to justice."
"If the war really breaks out, who will care about justice and morality?" Tsunayika Kaiboku looked helplessly at Imagawa Ujimoto, "Little brother, you haven't been in a war, right? A woman's kindness on the battlefield will kill her. It belongs to your own people. Your kindness to the enemy is equal to your cruelty to your subordinates. You are soft-hearted, you are unwilling to steal the people's food to supply the army, you are unwilling to drive the people to attack the city, and you are unwilling to plunder the people to transport military supplies, but others are so It’s done. If one thing goes the other way, how can you defeat the enemy? If you lose the battle then, the people in your own territory will suffer."
"Goro, I think that the Lord is right." Nakasugi Torachiyo also stopped Imagawajimoto who wanted to speak, just like Imagawajimoto stopped Ginkgo, "Once the war starts, how can we take morality into consideration? The only way is to stay alive. Only those who are worthy of morality will lose everything after death. In order to survive, isn't it possible to use any means? At a small level, a samurai can use any means in a certain war. At a large level, a family If you want to survive in troubled times, you must do whatever it takes to do anything. Wars that can enhance family interests must be fought, so who cares about justice and injustice?"
"Huh...Torachiyo, don't say that again..." Imagawa Ujimoto took a deep breath, stood up and patted Nakasugi Torachiyo on the shoulder, asked him to sit down in his seat, and pointed out the window: "Look at the official road Those innocent people. Who doesn’t have parents, wives and children? Who doesn’t have a home? But now they can only suffer from bullying and torture, live in foreign lands, be slaves for life, and finally become lonely ghosts."
"When you talk about the interests of the family, have you ever thought about them? They also want to live. Living is not just the preserve of samurai. Don't the common people deserve to live? What if your parents, wife and children end up like them? At the end of the day, if your parents, wife and children are in this team, can you still say what you just said without any shame?"
Imagawa Ujimoto's words touched Nakasugi Torachiyo for the first time. Looking at those poor people with gray eyes and unkempt hair, he was really stunned for a while. But after a while, he still shook his head and said:
"Just to prevent my parents, wife, and children from becoming like them, and just to prevent my family from falling like this, I have to fight at all costs."
"Here's nonsense." Ginkgo snorted, ignoring her younger brother, but looked at Imagawa Ujimoto, who had the same goals as her. The latter's eyes were also filled with helplessness and confusion about the war.
"My master has also thought about this matter, but after many days of meditation, he still can't figure it out." Kentaro Tian Shen, who had been quiet for a long time, slowly said:
"Finally, Master said to me, the discussion of 'justice in war' may not be settled at all. In troubled times, everyone has his own values and ideas, and also has his own way of survival, which determines everyone's attitude towards this issue. The answers will be different. Whether it's 'All wars are unjust', 'A war is just if its purpose and means are just', or 'War requires unscrupulous means', no one knows who is right. . Because in the end, those who record the various ideological trends in troubled times will only be the victors who survive."
