On May 7, the seventh year of Tianwen (1538), Imagawakan Castle Tower.
After the spring plowing ended, countless warriors from the Imagawa clan were already gearing up to go to Yuanjiang to put down the rebellion, but their family governor was quite happy.
As usual, Imagawa Yoshimoto sent the official documents he wanted to correct early to Sena Ujitoshi, and he secretly went to the dojo to practice kendo - only a ghost would believe it - it was actually kicking Cuju. After Kentaro Tamaki taught him for a quarter of an hour, Imagawa Yoshimoto would play Cuju for half an hour in the name of rest, and then he would say that he was tired from playing, and he would take a break while drinking tea and reading a collection of Japanese songs.
It was not enough for him to play by himself. In order to be able to play the game, he also called in his attendants such as Hayasaka Nao, Kira Uishari, Nakonoji Yutaka, as well as Asahina Kikuchiyo, Okabe Jiro and other minor surnames. Kentaro Tian Shen had no choice but to smile bitterly and put on the romantic eyes in the dojo, watching his lord amuse himself while he continued to practice on the side.
Soon, Okabe Jiro and Asahina Kikuchiyo quarreled because of a coordination error.
"Tell me a joke, someone catches the ball with his butt instead of his feet." Jiro Okabe laughed at Asahina Kikuchiyo's mistake just now. He was so angry that he yelled at Hina Kikuchiyo and punched him. The two soon started fighting. Together.
"If you don't know how to tell a joke about a hammer, don't tell it!"
While Hayasaka Nao was busy trying to break up the fight, Imagawa Yoshimoto also took the time to rest and look around. Seeing that Kentaro Tianchen was still practicing meticulously beside him, Imagawa Yoshimoto wiped his sweat and asked with a smile: "Tianchen, why don't you cater to your wishes? Let's play Cuju together to make me happy?"
"Don't be surprised, Your Highness, but daily practice should not be neglected. If you miss a day, you won't be able to come back for a month." Kentaro Tian Shen explained to Imagawa Yoshimoto while sweating profusely.
"Practicing martial arts is really troublesome. It would be great if I could have someone help me practice it, and then my martial arts skills would grow on me." Imagawa Yoshimoto carefully washed the sweat towel in the pool and hung it on the railing.
"It's like giving official documents to others for approval, but when you report back to your teacher, you put the workload on yourself?"
Taiyuan Xuezhai's voice came from behind, and Imagawa Yoshimoto suddenly felt that something was wrong. When he turned around, he realized that Taiyuan Xuezhai was followed by the dingy Sena Ujitoshi and Obara Masumi - the latter was holding the "captured" documents in his arms.
"The main hall..." Sena Shitoshi's face was filled with bitterness, "I was discovered by Master Xue Zhai..."
"Teacher, this is my opinion, you can't blame Sena!" Imagawa Yoshimoto hurriedly explained with a smile, and tried to prevaricate with his own head.
"Master knows that Mr. Sena is not to blame, and what he approved is much better than what you, a brat, did by yourself." Taiyuan Xuezhai glared at Imagawa Yoshimoto, and then threw all the seized official documents to Imagawa Yoshimoto.
"I know, old man, I can't do it myself..." Imagawa Yoshimoto had no choice but to accept it honestly, and prepared to go back to correct it in disgrace.
"No, I've already said it. Mr. Sena's corrections are better than yours. Why do you still need to correct them?" Taiyuan Xuezhai shook his head, and then motioned to Ohara Jinmi to put another stack of documents into Sena Shitoshi's hand. "I just want to change the type of documents to approve Mr. Sena."
"This is..." Imagawa Yoshimoto and Sena Ujitoshi turned their attention to the document together, and found that it was the storage status of the Imagawa family's granaries in various places in Yuanjiang and the route, time, and mission attendance of the supply team.
"Put a long line to catch big fish." Taiyuan Xuezhai showed a strange smile, "We won't send troops in the summer. Whenever the fish bites the bait, we will go to the far river to quell the rebellion."
·
"A secret message from Sena Ujitoshi..."
Two days later, on May 9th, the seventh year of Tenmon (1538), in the castle tower of Nishizaki Castle in Toe Province, the heads of a rebellious wealthy family were gathered around the table, studying the letter sent by Sena Ujitoshi.
"I hold a grudge because I was released and plotted to take revenge on Imagawa Yoshimoto. It happened that my fourth brother was kind-hearted and gave him important documents to correct?" Imagawa Yoshima looked at the content of the letter and couldn't help but shook his head, "It's too clumsy. Now, who’s plan is this? Will anyone believe it?”
"Why did Your Highness say this? I think it's reasonable." Horikoshi Sadaki had his own opinion, "Didn't my grandson make great contributions as our chief minister before? It's just that Your Highness didn't believe it, so the plan failed. success."
"Then since he has been discovered as a traitor by the Imagawa family, he should be strictly guarded. How could he be given another chance to become a traitor for us? How could my fourth brother really hand over the family secrets to a person? What about the traitor who was chased and released?" Imagawa Yoshima scoffed at this and even thought that this was not a strategy worth considering.
"The hall is open to you. I have been following and spying on Sena Clan Toshiro for a long time." This time it was the turn of Horikoshi Sadaki's second son, Horikoshi Sadatō, to speak. He had been personally lurking in Imagawadate Castle Town with ninjas.
"After Sena Ujitoshi was released, Imagawa Yoshimoto seemed to feel that it was Sena Ujitoshi's subordinates who tipped off the information rather than him himself, so he did not impose severe punishment, but allowed him to open a house in the castle town of Imagawakan to settle accounts. Shop. My ninja has been there many times pretending to be the owner of a fabric store, so I’m sure of this."
"And my spies on the street also discovered that since last year, Imagawa Yoshimoto has been sending official documents to Sena Ujitoshi's shop, asking Sena Ujitoshi to correct them on his behalf. It is said that it is because Imagawa Yoshimoto himself does not like government affairs. But his family asked him to be diligent, so he was lazy one after another. At first it was just some financial reports and land inspection data, but then Imagawa Yoshimoto gradually let down his guard and left everything to Sena Ujitoshi. This situation lasted for almost a year. , it didn’t just happen recently.”
"Is that so..." Imagawa Yoshizhin was a little confused this time.
"I feel that Sena Ujitoshi really wanted to help us. He took advantage of Imagawa Yoshimoto's carelessness to send us vital information. It would be a pity if we missed the opportunity because of suspicion." Horikoshi Seeing that Imagawa Yoshima was still hesitating, Sadatoyo added, "Besides, the main hall felt that if Imagawa Yoshimoto and Monk Naxuezhai really wanted to use a trick, how could they use such a clumsy move? No matter what No one will let a traitor who has been discovered become a double agent again."
"But I still think it's too far-fetched..." Imagawa Yoshima still couldn't make up his mind, and reason told him that this matter was not that simple.
"Then your Highness might as well go check it out. The information given by Sena Toshiki." Nori Iio took the secret letter on the desk and read it, "It's all about the inventory, transportation and supplies of the Imagawa family's granaries in various places in Yuejiang. Situation. Let’s go check and see if it’s true, then we’ll know whether Sena Shitoshi is genuine or not.”
Five days later, on May 14, the seventh year of Tianwen (1538), the ninjas who went to investigate returned one after another. Due to the tight security of the Imagawa family, they could not get close. However, judging from the number of small load carrying teams coming and going, it is surprisingly consistent with the information provided by Sena Ujitoshi.
"Is it really true?" Imagawa Yoshima couldn't believe that such a good thing happened. "Is there no one in the Imagawa family to take care of it? Imagawa Yoshimoto actually handed over his family's secrets to a samurai who was released? There is no other person in the Imagawa family. Are people monitoring this potential traitor?"
"It seems not." Horikoshi Sadatoyo shook his head, "I have never found out."
"If the situation of these granaries and transportation is true, the Imagawa Army should launch an offensive again, taking the southern route last time and heading straight along the coastline to Imagashi City." Iio Nori even discovered that the Imagawa clan's front line might be aimed at After he settled in the city, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous, "Your Highness, maybe we should set up defenses as soon as possible and set up a defense line by the Tianlong River. This way we can prevent the enemy from crossing the river."
"However, according to the information provided by Sena Ujitoshi, the Imagawa Army has no plans to send troops in the summer. Instead, it wants to send troops after the autumn harvest." Ii Naohei pointed to a line of words on the letter, "We don't need to start setting up defenses now. It’s a waste of food and grass.”
"Perhaps this is Monk Yukisai's plan." Imagawa Yoshima was awakened by Ii Naohei's words, and he suddenly realized, "They just want Sena Ujitoshi to provide half-truth and half-false information to trick us into believing it. What he said. In fact, the enemy just wants to attack in the summer and catch us by surprise."
Imagawa Ryojin's inference was recognized by everyone. As a result, the wealthy families of Imagawa Yoshima's side gathered troops in their territory and rushed to the bank of Tianlong River to set up defenses. Because Imagawa Yoshizhin was worried about the Imagawa clan being deceitful, he did not concentrate all the troops on the southern front, and a large number of troops were left for garrison on the northern front with the upper reaches of the Tenryu River.
However, they waited for a month and saw nothing. The Asahina family, the Sena family, the Matsui family and other important border ministers all stood still and had no intention of attacking at all. Horikoshi Sadatoyo's spy in Suruga also reported that neither the Imagawa clan's flag corps nor the wealthy families of Suruga had any intention of sending troops.
In the past month, secret letters from Sena Ujitoshi also arrived one after another, telling Imakawa Ryozhinka that although the Imagawa clan continued to store food and grass on the southern front of Toe Province, they still had no immediate plans to launch an army. The fact was that Indeed.
At first, Imagawa Yoshizhin felt that this was just a plan by Taiyuan Xue Zhai, who wanted to trick the Yuanjiang wealthy clan into retreating and take advantage of their opportunity to disband their troops to launch an attack, so he gritted his teeth and refused to withdraw. However, as time passed and the autumn harvest came closer, the Imagawa clan's troops still did not send troops. On the contrary, the wealthy families in Yuanjiang complained and looked forward to returning early for the autumn harvest. Imagawa Yoshizhin had no choice but to order the withdrawal of troops. Facts have proved that what Sena Ujitoshi said was accurate.
"Am I really worrying too much..." At the evaluation meeting after returning to Nishizaki Castle, Imagawa Yoshizhin couldn't help but question his own judgment. In the Battle of Tenryukawa the year before last, it was because he was too overly concerned and decided that Sena Ujitoshi must be a double agent and changed the deployment. As a result, his own side, which could have succeeded in a sneak attack, had to fight the opponent's main force.
Could it be that this time, he was also suspicious. Sena Ujitoshi is no longer the same die-hard Imagawa Yoshimoto in his previous life. Was it the butterfly effect caused by his time travel that changed him and turned him into a traitor?
"Odono is resourceful and can calculate every step, so how can he be overly worried? It is with the leadership of the house governor like Odono that our ministers can feel at ease." Horikoshi Sada gave a top hat to Imagawa Yoshima with a plump face, "But now It can be seen that Sena Jijun should be trustworthy. He must also admire your style in the main hall, so he made up his mind to abandon the dark side and join the bright side!"
"That's great, that's great." Imagawa Yoshima was obviously very impressed by Horikoshi Sadatoyo's words, and his previous misjudgments were corrected by Horikoshi Sadatoyo's complimentary words, "In that case, then I believe in Seto Information about Jun Mingji. When Imagawa Yoshimoto sends troops after the autumn harvest, we will set up an ambush on their advance route in advance to catch them off guard!"
After the meeting, each family's retainers took people back to their own territories for autumn harvest, and the Horikoshi family was no exception. However, before the Horikoshi family returned to the city, Horikoshi Sadatoyo secretly called a trusted ninja and assigned him a task:
"Go back and tell Master Yukisai." Horikoshi Sadatoyo lowered his voice, but could not hide his excitement, "Sena Toshi has gained trust, Imagawa Yoshima has taken the bait, and the mission is completed."
