On January 7, the eleventh year of Tianwen (1542), when Taiyuan Xuezhai returned to Imagawakan, he learned the whole story of the Matsudaira Nobutaka incident.
At this time, the matter of Imagawa Yoshimoto's detention of Matsudaira Nobutaka had also spread back to Mikawa, and the Matsudaira family fell into a fierce debate for a while. At the strong request of Abe Sadakichi and others, the Matsudaira clan's troops, led by Matsudaira Yasutaka, began to accept Matsudaira Nobutaka's territory. However, Matsudaira Hirotada himself was still unwilling to intensify the situation and wrote a letter to Imagawa Yoshimoto, hoping to release Matsudaira Nobutaka - which was naturally decisively rejected by Imagawa Yoshimoto.
After hearing the feedback, the retainers of the Nobutaka faction became very excited. Matsudaira Tadun, Sakai Tadanobu and others raised troops in the city to protest the execution of Matsudaira Hirotada and Imagawa Yoshimoto. Oikaji also responded one after another, demanding the release of Nobutaka Matsudaira.
"You boy learned quickly this time." Taiyuan Xuezhai couldn't help but admired after seeing what Imagawa Yoshimoto had done, "Now we know that the monolithic Matsudaira family is not good for us to infiltrate Mikawa? But this intervention It's considered timely. If you don't take action, Matsudaira Nobutaka will soon monopolize the power of the family and sideline Matsudaira Hirotada. But he himself was detained at Imagawakan, and his followers were leaderless, and they all appeared one by one. Matsudaira The house is in chaos, giving us a great opportunity to intervene in Xisanhe."
"Ah... the teacher is right." In fact, Imagawa Yoshimoto, who actually just wanted to avenge himself for Ginkgo, who was bullied last time, heard Taiyuan Xuezai's praise and nodded in embarrassment, pretending that everything was as planned.
"Then do you know what to do next?" Taiyuan Xuezhai rarely expressed satisfaction with Imagawa Yoshimoto's official actions, and immediately asked in a seductive manner. Looking at those expectant eyes, Imagawa Yoshimoto was a little embarrassed - he really didn't know what to do next?
Although Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't know how to best handle it, he clearly realized that he could never handle official duties well. Knowing that you are "not good" is "good" in another sense. Because as long as you say the plan that you think is the least reliable, it must be the most correct plan.
"Put Matsudaira Nobutaka back?" Imagawa Yoshimoto then replied with a smile - how can you put someone back just after arresting him? Isn't this a joke?
"A boy can be taught!!!"
Unexpectedly, when Taiyuan Xuezhai heard this plan, he jumped three feet high in excitement. Then he came over, grabbed Imagawa Yoshimoto's white clothes with his two oily hands, and shook it vigorously, "You kid is really enlightened." !”
"You're so dirty, you stinky old man!" Imagawa Yoshimoto stepped back in panic and looked over his shoulder. The two big oily fingerprints made the mysophobic man almost suffocate instantly.
After being stunned for a moment, he finally realized the meaning of Taiyuan Xuezhai's words——
"Does this coincide with your plan, teacher?"
"Yes, I have accepted you as my disciple for almost 20 years. Have you finally inherited the mantle of my master?" Taiyuan Xuezhai danced with emotion, as if he was going to cry in the next second, "My master can finally feel relieved, even if Chengfang, you can still manage the Imagawa family well even if I am no longer here as my teacher!"
"Ah... the teacher is right!" Imagawa Yoshimoto's mouth curved wider and wider, and it was hard to hold back his laughter.
"If Matsudaira Nobutaka is not released, it will only take the Matsudaira clan a short half a year to defeat the opponents and reunite them. Of course we cannot give them this opportunity. We will release Matsudaira Nobutaka after being imprisoned for a while. The reason is that the Matsudaira family The opposition voices put a lot of pressure on the Imagawa family. Send Matsudaira Nobutaka back to Mikawa and let him go back to lead the opposition and fight against the Matsudaira clan. The more fierce the fight between the two sides, the more they will ask for from us." Taiyuan Xuezhai analyzed in a clear-headed manner. Then, Imagawa Yoshimoto realized how reliable his casual plan was.
"Remember, never believe in so-called feelings. No matter how loyal a retainer or an ally is to you, you must find ways to create obstacles for him so that he has to be controlled by you. Feelings will change, but Power is real." Taiyuan Xue Zhai took the trouble to teach Imagawa Yoshimoto again, "This time we find an enemy for His Highness Matsudaira Hirotada. This is the reason."
"But do we really want to put him back like this?" Imagawa Yoshimoto became furious when he thought of Matsudaira Nobutaka's attempt to harm Ginkgo back then. At that time, he was a little shy in front of Ginkgo, embarrassed to show his anger. Now that Ginkgo is no longer around, his anger can no longer be concealed.
"Yes." Taiyuan Xuezhai nodded, "Lock him up for a while longer and wait for the situation to ferment."
"Can I fix him up and then let him go?" Imagawa Yoshimoto whimsically put forward a willful proposal, which was ready to be dismissed by Taiyuan Xuezhai with a smile and a curse.
Who would have thought that after Taiyuan Xuezhai thought for a moment, he looked at Imagawa Yoshimoto thoughtfully:
"Chengfang, after a few days of seeing you, I'm impressed. You've got great skills. Yes, you can give him a good beating. After beating him, he will naturally have resentment towards the Imagawa family. You no longer want to cooperate with the Imagawa family. In other words, it will push the Matsudaira clan further to our side. If you want to cooperate with the Matsudaira clan, such a move can be said to have released enough power to His Highness Matsudaira Hirotada. Goodwill - shows that our support for him is unwavering and leaves no other options open."
"I finally understand." Imagawa Yoshimoto laughed dumbly.
"What do you understand?" Taiyuan Xuezhai, a monk two feet tall, was really confused.
"It's nothing." Imagawa Yoshimoto said with a smile as he pulled off the clothes that were stained by Taiyuan Xuezai and prepared to change into another one.
You see, as long as I deliberately do the opposite of what I think is the right move, I am also a master of government affairs.
·
April 7, the 11th year of Astronomy (1542), in the dungeon of Imakawa Hall.
Matsudaira Nobutaka, who has been imprisoned for three months, is looking forward to seeing what is going on every day. He doesn't know when he will be able to come forward, and he doesn't know what the situation is like outside. But after all, he wanted to bully Imagawa Yoshimoto's female family members. He couldn't say anything wrong now, but he was still depressed in his heart - how could there be such a weirdo who brought his wife to the battlefield? ah?
However, both Imagawa Yoshimoto and the Imagawa family may be the odd ones among the samurai in troubled times. When he was first taken into the dungeon, Imagawa Yoshimoto specified that Matsudaira Nobutaka should be taken to the room with the worst conditions. Matsudaira Nobutaka originally thought that he was going to suffer. It must be a cell with water seepage, a smell of corpses, mice and spider droppings everywhere, and where he could not even straighten his waist - the worst cell in Mikawa was like this.
However, in fact, he thought too much. The cell was very clean and tidy, with straw on the floor and a shabby mattress, which was of a decent size - Matsudaira Nobutaka could even do some activities in it. He inquired from the jailer that this was one of the rare political affairs in which Imagawa Yoshimoto personally intervened after he succeeded to the throne. After inspecting the dungeon, the mysophobic Imagawa Yoshimoto could not stand the environment inside at all, so he destroyed the entire dungeon. A major renovation.
As a result, the conditions of "the worst dungeon in Imagawakan" where Matsudaira Nobutaka lived were actually one or two better than the conditions of "the best dungeon in Okazaki City". Then he couldn't help but start to yearn for "the best cell in Imagawa Hall". Would it be better than the environment of a hotel? It would be great if there was a chance to live there - such a thought came to his mind.
Not only that, the Imagawa family's jailer always delivered three meals on time - Matsudaira Nobutaka himself sometimes could only eat two meals in Mikawa, but when he was imprisoned, he could eat three meals - and they all tasted good. , the jailer will not pee in the food like Mikawa did.
There were footsteps from the other end of the corridor, and Matsudaira Nobutaka knew that this was the arrival of the food delivery person. However, the footsteps were a bit dense and noisy. There seemed to be three or four people - usually there was only one person who came to deliver food. Matsudaira Nobutaka then straightened up with some vigilance and looked out through the iron fence - it was Imagawa Yoshimoto and two burly men with heavy backs and shoulders.
"Let me tell Matsudaira some good news first." Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't mean to talk nonsense and said directly, "The Matsudaira family has a lot of calls for your release, so I will let you go tomorrow."
"Many! Thank you, Your Highness Imagawa!" Nobutaka Matsudaira was overjoyed after hearing the news and hurriedly leaned over to say thanks.
"The bad news is I'm not going to take advantage of you like that."
Imagawa Yoshimoto's voice sounded again, and then there was the sound of the cell door lock being unscrewed, and Akai Kurotaka and Kira Uishari, who were following behind Imagawa Yoshimoto, stepped into the room.
"Don't you two like to fight? Instead of fighting in the dojo, why not beat him? You can have a good fight, but don't beat him to death." Imagawa Yoshimoto closed the door behind Akai Kurotaka and Kira Uishari, and then ordered One sentence. Akai Kurotaka and Kira Uisei looked at each other and smiled, and fist bumped their big arms - while Matsudaira Nobutaka, who was kneeling on the ground, looked at the two burly men in front of him, his face turned pale with fear.
·
On April 8, the eleventh year of Tenmon (1542), after beating Matsudaira Nobutaka severely, the Imagawa family released Matsudaira Nobutaka "due to pressure from opposition within the Matsudaira family." Sure enough, as soon as Matsudaira Nobutaka, who had a bruised nose and face, returned to Mikawa, he immediately summoned his old troops to recapture Miki Castle. Then, together with opponents such as Matsudaira Tadun and Sakai Tadanobu, he put pressure on the Matsudaira clan and demanded an apology from the Matsudaira clan.
"Can't you tell, our husband still has some conscience."
In the Imagawakan castle tower, Ginkgo took advantage of the children to go out to play, so she took the opportunity to ridicule Imagawa Yoshimoto, "At that time, I thought they wanted to bully me, but sir, he was not angry at all and had no intention of helping me. "
"You know how to make fun of me." Imagawa Yoshimoto stroked Miao Xiaomiao's chin and smiled at Ginkgo, "Men, there are some things you are embarrassed to say. You will only know by looking at our actions."
"Oh?" Ginkgo approached Imagawa Yoshimoto suspiciously, leaned down and raised her head, deliberately allowing Imagawa Yoshimoto to see the beauty of her breasts, and at the same time asked with a wicked smile: "Why did you talk so sweetly when Mr. What about the string ones?"
"Look, if you don't take care of your little mouth, you're so good at teasing me."
Imagawa Yoshimoto hugged Ginkgo and was about to kiss her, but coincidentally there was a knock on the door and an awkward greeting from Hayasaka Nao.
"Koichiro, what's the matter?" Imagawa Yoshimoto asked vaguely while kissing Ginkgo.
"Your Highness, Master Xue Zhai would like to discuss something with you."
