"Thank you, His Highness Imagawa, for coming to your aid, otherwise my life would have been at stake here." Matsudaira Hirotada stumbled a bit while walking. He was obviously seriously injured, but he still greeted Yoshimoto Imagawa politely and thoughtfully. He didn't mean to care about his injuries, "His Majesty Imagawa's kindness for coming all night, Guangzhong has already remembered it in his heart."
"It's fine, Your Highness Matsudaira, don't take it to heart." Imagawa Yoshimoto signaled to the guards behind Matsudaira Hiroyuki not to worry about etiquette, and quickly bandaged Matsudaira Hiroyuki, "The follow-up troops of the Imagawa family will arrive shortly. What will your Highness Matsudaira do after that?" Are you planning to?"
"Of course it's best to return to Okazaki Castle as soon as possible." Matsudaira Hirohada wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"Don't you need to take a rest?" Imagawa Yoshimoto felt that Matsudaira Hirotada might be better off recuperating first.
"No need. The loyal people in my family have been waiting for a long time. Now that the Imagawa family is coming with their troops, those who want me to return are even more eagerly awaiting my return. Every moment of delay may chill the hearts of loyal ministers." Matsudaira Hirotada saw two people. The guard carefully applied bandages on his arms and legs, then moved with some dissatisfaction, indicating that they could simply handle it.
"But we may need to trouble His Majesty Imagawa to leave some people to garrison Tojo Castle." Matsudaira Hirotada added apologetically, "The Saijo Kira family is powerful. Although it has retreated today, the main force has not been lost. If it comes back in the future, Tojo Castle will definitely not be able to be defended. His Highness Kira Mochihiro treats me so kindly, how can I abandon his family property? After I return to Okazaki Castle, I will become Tojo Kira and look for an heir, and then punish Saijo Kira It is the crime of the family to use weapons and assassinate members of the clan."
"I'll leave Kotobei here." Imagawa Yoshimoto glanced at the Hatamoto soldiers resting against the wall and straw inside and outside the Honmaru, "They traveled all night and fought another battle. They exhausted a lot of physical strength and just took a break. "
·
At noon on September 22, Tenmo 9 (1540), the army of the Imagawa family and the troops of the Tojo Matsudaira family supported Matsudaira Hirotada and headed for Okazaki Castle in the northeast. They went north along the banks of the Yahagi River and set up camp 25 miles southwest of Okazaki Castle in the evening. On the west side of the other side of the river, you can see Matsudaira Toshiro's Fujii Castle and Matsudaira Nobusada's Sakurai Castle. Fujii Castle is close to the Yahagi River, while Sakurai Castle is 7 miles north of Fujii Castle, and 9 miles further north is Anxiang Castle, the important town of Mikawa.
"Then Sakurai Castle is the residence of my third uncle (Matsudaira Nobusada), but he should be in Okazaki Castle now." Matsudaira Hirotada looked at the residence of his enemy, but because of the same clan, he did not mention it in his tone. With much resentment, "many clans' territories around Anxiang City were gradually annexed by him within a few years."
"My great-grandfather (Nagaki Matsudaira) is also really interesting." Imagawa Yoshimoto slowly tapped the palms of his hands with a folding fan and couldn't help complaining at the same time, "My great-grandson was bullied by his third son. Instead of just sitting back and watching, he fanned the flames. It’s really a harmonious family, just like my family.”
"This matter has a history, and I can't blame my great-grandfather." Matsudaira Hirotada defended his shortcomings and was driven out of the house in despair. He still wanted to defend his family, "I heard from the elders that the third uncle has been there since he was a child. He was favored by his great-grandfather and liked him very much. Although my grandfather (Matsudaira Nobutada) was a good man but had no talent, a good man alone could not be a good governor. After he succeeded to the throne from his retired great-grandfather, he was taken over by the whole family and The ministers thought it was too weak, and for a time there were many rebels, and my grandfather couldn't bear to kill them, which led to a larger-scale rebellion."
"At that time, my great-grandfather had the idea of abolishing the title of family governor, and wanted to let the third uncle replace my grandfather as the governor of the family. However, after all, out of the affection of the eldest son, after abolishing the position of the grandfather as the family governor, he finally chose to let the direct descendant of the family. The eldest grandson, my father (Kyoyasu Matsudaira) succeeded to the throne. My father was unparalleled in martial arts, but he died young. And I am still young and do not have the talent of my father, but I am more like my grandfather. It is normal for my great-grandfather not to like me. Secretly acquiescing to the Third Grandfather's uncle to usurp the clan's territory may be to compensate for the regret of not allowing him to succeed to the throne."
"You can excuse others, but you don't think about yourself." Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled, but his evaluation of Matsudaira Hirotada was higher in his heart.
"I'm just saying this because I want to make it easier for His Highness Imagawa. If my great-grandfather and third-granduncle are captured, I hope that for the sake of my kinship with them, I can spare them a way to live." Matsudaira Hirohito was very worried. He solemnly bowed to Imagawa Yoshimoto and said, "Well, thank you Hirotada."
"This is a household matter of your Matsudaira family. Naturally, I will not interfere." Imagawa Yoshimoto opened the folding fan and fanned himself. He didn't care about Matsudaira's request and looked at Fujii on the other side of the Yahagi River. Cheng, "By the way, where is the head of the Fujii Matsudaira family? When will he send someone to meet us?"
"The fifth uncle (Matsudaira Toshinaga) is in a special situation. Although he opposed the third uncle's expulsion of me, he did not stand on my side as firmly as the fourth uncle (Matsudaira Yoshiharu)." Matsudaira Hirohada felt a little regretful , but his tone was more filled with admiration, "Uncle the Fifth Ancestor, his territory is very close to the Oda family, so he spends all his energy on fending off enemies, and usually doesn't do much to deal with the disputes within the Matsudaira family. participate."
·
On September 23, Tenmo 9 (1540), the Imagawa-Matsuhira coalition continued to move northward towards Okazaki Castle. In less than three minutes, we arrived 5 miles south of Okazaki Castle, facing Okazaki Castle across the Oto River. Matsudaira Nagachi, Matsudaira Nobusada, Matsudaira Nobutaka, Matsudaira Yasutaka and others in Okazaki Castle were also facing a formidable enemy and mobilized more than 3,000 troops to prepare for the attack.
Imagawa Yoshimoto's side has Gomao Bei, Shoudun Bei, Ma Zhongzhong, Osawa Bei, Matsui Bei and Tojo Matsudairabe, with a total number of about 3,600. Although they had the advantage in military strength, they did not have the ability to storm Okazaki Castle, so they also set up camp on the south bank of the Oto River.
"Your Majesty Imagawa, please be patient. I will send people to the city right now to persuade the old tribes and tribesmen to support my side." Matsudaira Hirotada found Imagawa Yoshimoto before sunset, and was following him to prepare to send troops. The envoy who came to the city to lobby—the old man Abe Sadayoshi.
"The situation is unstable now. If you go to the city to lobby, you may never come back." Imagawa Yoshimoto did not forget to remind him, "Why should Abe Daizo put himself in danger?"
"The reason why today's situation is happening is all because I failed to teach my children well, which led to great disasters." Abe Nobuyoshi's eyes instantly filled with bloodshot eyes just by mentioning the past, "I, a sinner, should have died a long time ago. But my lord is magnanimous and allows me to live until now with a sinful body. This life is ready to be dedicated to the Matsudaira family at any time, so why should I be afraid?"
What Abe Sadayoshi was talking about was the famous disaster in the history of the Matsudaira family - the Moriyama landslide. After the British leader Matsudaira Kiyoyasu suddenly unified Mikawa, he directed his troops at Owari Oda, beating the Oda family back steadily. In the fourth year of Tenmon (1535), Matsudaira Kiyoshiyasu attacked Moriyama Castle, but rumors suddenly spread among the army that Abe Sadaikichi was suspected of being a liaison with Oda Nobuhide.
To be on the safe side, Matsudaira Kiyoyasu temporarily placed Abe Sadayoshi under house arrest. Abe Nobuyoshi himself is loyal to the Matsudaira family, so naturally he has no meaning to all the arrangements made by his master's family. He also asked his son Abe Masatoshi that if he encountered an accident, Abe Masatoshi must prove the innocence of the Abe family for him in front of the family governor and not bring shame to the ancestors.
However, Masato Abe was impatient. He was worried that something might happen to his father, and he suddenly became confused. On December 5, Hatamoto of the Matsudaira family chased frightened horses in the camp, but Masayo Abe mistakenly thought they were going to execute his father. Under the secret instigation of Matsudaira Nobusada, Abe Masayo actually murdered the Matsudaira family governor Matsudaira Kiyoyasu, stopping the journey of this world-famous young talent at the age of 25. The Matsudaira family was in chaos after losing their master, and since then they have been plunged into civil strife day after day, year after year.
However, after Matsudaira understood the ins and outs of the matter, he determined that Abe Sadaiki himself was not guilty, and tried his best to save Abe Sadaiki and the Abe family, which made Abe Sadaiki feel grateful - but the big mistake his son committed made him even more embarrassed. . From then on, Abe Sadakichi followed Matsudaira Hirotada every step of the way, and repeatedly risked his life to protect Matsudaira.
·
After Abe Sadayoshi left, Imagawa Yoshimoto returned to the tent, hugged Ginkgo and fell asleep peacefully. When I got up in the middle of the night, I discovered that Matsudaira Hirotada had been waiting on the watchtower at the entrance of the camp, wearing a piece of clothing in the cold wind, with no intention of sleeping.
"Are you worried about Abe Ozo?" Imagawa Yoshimoto walked to the foot of the watchtower and shouted to Matsudaira Hirotada.
"Yes." Matsudaira Hirotada sighed deeply and did not hide it, "Ozo has been following me for many years, how can I not be worried?"
"Then why send him?" Imagawa Yoshimoto raised his head and asked in confusion.
"Because this is what he should do, and I also have what I should do. Each of us Mikawa samurai has something he must do, and he cannot avoid it. Even if it means death, he has to bite the bullet."
Matsudaira Hiroyuki answered proudly against the fierce north wind.
At this moment, the sound of horse hooves came in the wind. Matsudaira Hiroshi suddenly became energetic and stuck his head out. I saw Abe Sakichi holding a torch and hurried back all the way. The guard at the gate of the camp hurriedly let him into the city and took him into the camp.
"Lord, good news!" Abe Sadayoshi beamed with joy and hurriedly reported to Matsudaira Hirotada and Imagawa Yoshimoto, "Old lord (Matsudaira Nagauchi) and Tibetan Sa (Matsudaira Nobutaka) saw that you have the support of the Imagawa family's army, so they both I promised to welcome you back! That traitor Matsudaira Nobusada couldn't convince the old master and Tibetan Zuo. Seeing that things are going badly, he is already preparing to flee!"
"Enter the city immediately, or send someone to intercept Matsudaira Nobusada?" Imagawa Yoshimoto gave the decision-making power to Matsudaira Hirotada.
"Let's go to the city first. Then I will send an envoy to see my third uncle, hoping that he will change his mind." Matsudaira Hiroshi was still soft-hearted in the end, "If he refuses to turn back, it won't be too late for us to attack him again."
