Zhengheng listened to Hosokawa Fujitaka's words, and was not the slightest excited, but only felt funny, saying that Miyoshi Changqing usurped the forces and deceived the heavens and the earth, destroyed the country and killed the king, this is not a slap in the face, the samurai originated from the emperor and the domestic slaves of the imperial court, if you want to say that you are deceiving the heavens and the earth, you should hand over the power and land to the emperor and the imperial court. The last sentence is even more nonsense to support Ashikaga and save the people of Li.

The careless attitude deeply stung the fragile heart of Hosokawa Fujitaka, who is still an idealistic shogunate, and now Hosokawa Fujitaka has not seen the world as it is, and has not grown into the old and spicy politician who abandoned his old master, abandoned his old friends, abandoned the weak and became strong for the sake of fame, fortune, glory and wealth, and used despicable means to destroy the Isshiki family in order to expand his territory.

Hosokawa Fujitaka suddenly looked directly at Zhengheng, as if he was going to fight if he didn't agree to his request, but it made several attendants who followed Zhengheng commotion, but fortunately, Zhengheng gently repelled them, and looked at Hosokawa Fujitaka with a smile.

Zhengheng also looked at Hosokawa Fujitaka, maybe this is Hosokawa Fujitaka's true face, but later he was repeatedly hit by the world before he became that indifferent and cruel politician, he nodded and said: "The shogun has a loyal retainer who is the lord, but he is not a smart person, and he wants to deceive me into falling into the trap." It is useless to plead for mercy, everything in the world is determined. As Zheng Heng said this, he chuckled from his mouth, which was very unpleasant.

Hosokawa Fujitaka wanted to open his mouth to defend himself, but a cold smile appeared on the corner of Zhengheng's mouth, and the words in his mouth disrupted his defense. Zheng Heng smiled: "In the eyes of fools, they may not be aware of the changes in the world. In fact. Just pay little attention. Everything will be gone. You are a man of culture. You should know why. The weak will surely perish, and if they fear defeat, they should rise up and use the strength in their hands to become strong, instead of running to me and asking for my mercy. ”

Hosokawa Fujitaka stared at Masahiro, silently speechless. Zhengheng pursed his lips and continued: "Things in the world have changed, the so-called Fujiwara clan, Tachibana clan, Genji clan, and Taira clan. You sing and I'll appear. According to the custom of the Ashikaga shogun's family, the sons of shoguns who failed to obtain the status of heirs were to become monks, so they were sent to Buddhism, and I don't know if this matter can be taken seriously. When harnessed properly, this is a tremendous force. Of course, if you want to get those wine and meat monks on the side of the shogunate, you have to find an enemy for them. ”

Zhengheng can always calmly see the truth of the matter, and then find the best entry point, create the most favorable situation from the chaotic situation, and then obtain the greatest benefits. In that sense. His success was not accidental.

Hosokawa Fujitaka obviously couldn't keep up with Masahiro's thinking, and he was still thinking about the previous sentence. Zheng Heng had already given an answer on how to solve the problem, but he couldn't say anything to refute it. As the other party said, there are only two ways for the weak to remain undefeated, one is to cling to the strong, and the other is to become strong. The Ashikaga shogunate was nominally the co-ruler of the world, and the reputation of relying on the strong was not good, and the fierce Ashikaga Yoshiteru would not do it, and if he was willing to be a puppet, he would not be expelled from Yamashiro Province. If you want to become a strong man, you must have a sword in your hand, a sword that is enough to affect the situation in the world, and Ashikaga Yoshiteru has no sword in his hand that can be used, so he can only strengthen his own force, and he deceives himself into believing that the shogunate will be strong.

Hosokawa Fujitaka knelt on the ground, bowed respectfully, and said, "Please also ask Lord Bishosho to tell me the secrets and tricks of how to make the shogunate strong?" ”

Zhengheng touched his stomach, laughed, laughed for a while, and then suddenly changed color, and said with a serious expression: "It's a teachable person, I might as well tell you bluntly, the so-called secrets and know-how, it may allow the shogunate to seize the opportunity to wash away the decadence of the past, or it may fall forever until it perishes, do you still want to hear it?" ”

Masahiro, who is similar in age to Hosokawa Fujitaka, can achieve today's achievements, different from ordinary people, his thoughts are like wild horses on the loose, galloping between heaven and earth, Masaheng's words are as tempting as opium, knowing that they are harmful but people have to want to know the answer.

Philistines often cover their ears and prostrate on the ground in fright, and the bold people will not hesitate to ask for answers, Hosokawa Fujitaka hesitated to listen to him, he obviously realized that the words behind him might be cholera in the world, as if he had made up his mind, his eyes were firmly looking straight ahead, and he replied word by word: "Listen to your ears in the next day." ”

Zhengheng glanced at Hosokawa Fujitaka and said, "Look at your firm eyes, I'm afraid you will think that I will say something unfavorable to the shogunate, hehe, it's up to you whether you listen or not, and it's up to you whether you do it or not." Rokkaku Yoshiken is already tired, and Miyoshi Chokei will dominate Kinai in a short period of time. The meaning of the shogun, you know it well, and I know it too, is that he wants to introduce a force that is different from Miyoshi Changqing, compete with it, and then sit on the mountain to watch the tiger fight, and reap the benefits of the fisherman. Hehe, the shogun didn't see the world as it was, the two tigers competed, and without their own force, even if they were injured tigers, they could swallow the weak audience. In fact, there is a powerful force in Kinai that can be utilized, and as long as it is used properly, the shogunate has a power in his hands. ”

Hosokawa Fujitaka is a smart person, or a very smart person, the expression just now was just blinded by the illusion, and he couldn't see what the truth was. ”

Twenty years ago, the Astronomical Hokke Rebellion broke out, and the Nichiren sect of Buddhism, centered on the main temple in Kyoto, grew in power, and the confrontation with the Ichitsu sect and the Tendai sect deepened, causing a great riot. The end result was that Nichiren suffered heavy losses, with nearly 50,000 disciples killed and sixteen monasteries in Kinai burned down. The deep-seated reason is that the Hosokawa clan is in charge of the struggle for power, and the Onin Rebellion is to each pull a group of guardian daimyo to start a war, but this time the competition is to pull a group of monks each, and finally kill the Nichiren sect together.

Hosokawa Fujitaka naturally knew what kind of changes would be caused to Kinai by the turmoil like the Astronomical Hokke Rebellion again. He didn't want to see it, but he knew that the more volatile the situation, the greater the benefits the shogunate would gain from it. How great is the temptation of Ashikaga Yoshiteru, who is bent on reviving the shogunate.

Masahiro kept a close eye on Hosokawa Fujitaka. "Look at your panicked eyes. He must have been afraid of turmoil in Kinai. The Astronomical Lotus Rebellion was just a fight between a group of fools, with no purpose, and they deserved to be killed and almost wiped out. In the last turmoil, the Nichiren sect was an absolute loser, and the Tendai sect seemed to have won a big victory, but his foundation also began to loosen, and only the Ichizen sect, which seemed to have suffered a loss because of the burning of Yamashina Honganji, benefited. It is important to know that both its purpose and the Nichiren sect are based on the mission of establishing a kingdom of Buddhas on earth. ”

Masahiro paused for a moment and continued, "The matter of Kaga is still in front of us, and the disciples of the Ichijo sect in Hokuriku alone were able to mobilize an army of 200,000 to seize the power of Kaga Province and establish the so-called Earth Buddha Kingdom. Now that Settsu, Izumi, Hanoi and other places are all occupied by the countryside, once it breaks out, I am afraid that no less than two or three hundred thousand believers will take up arms. If these two or three hundred thousand believers can be led to the Three Good Changqing, how drastic it will be. It has caused a constant rush, even the Lotus Master can't restrain the spread of a whim, let alone Xianru, who has just succeeded to the throne and is less than fourteen years old? Once it spreads. As long as it is slightly triggered, the first to bear the brunt is the Nichiren sect. The Nichiren Sect, which is weak, will obviously be defeated soon, and the Tiantai Sect will sit idly by? When the time comes, the shogunate and the Tendai sect will form an alliance, and even Miyoshi Chokei will submit to the shogunate in order to stop the spread of the Ichijo sect. Ahem, I talked too much, and I forgot what I just said. ”

The hall was silent for a while, who would have thought that Zhengheng would suddenly have this idea. Hosokawa Fujitaka's forehead was already covered with dense beads of sweat, and he couldn't imagine that under the deep coat of scheming, what Zhengheng was hiding was the ability to confuse the world, so he gritted his teeth and said: "It's not easy to lead the whole time." ”

Of course, the trigger will lead to an even more chaotic situation in Kinai, and the people of Lebanon will suffer an even more miserable life. But as a member of the ruler and a retainer of the shogun, the starting point of Hosokawa Fujitaka's action is to put the interests of the shogunate first, and keep saying that it is for the sake of the people and the common people, but when it really touches the interests of the shogunate, everything can be abandoned. It has always caused a huge disaster, as Zhengheng said, the first to bear the brunt is Miyoshi Changqing. Settsu, Izumi, Kawachi, and Kii, which have always been entrenched in the region, except for Kii, whose guardian is the Hatakeyama clan, the rest are all the core territories of Miyoshi Chokei. As soon as there was a rebellion, religious forces such as the Tendai sect and Nichiren sect, as well as other Japanese forces, would think of the situation in Kaga Province, and in this way, the shogunate would be able to form an alliance to resist the rebellion.

However, even if we know that the benefits of triggering are infinite, how to trigger them is a difficult thing. It doesn't bother the two masters, and since they have revealed a plan to harm the world, there will definitely be an opportunity to cause this matter.

Zheng Heng laughed and said: "If you even want me to blame you for this trivial matter, the general and the leader are too useless, so you don't have to come out to lose face by living in seclusion in the mountains and forests early." In the words, Ashikaga Yoshiki was not polite at all, and he looked arrogant.

Hosokawa Fujitaka heard something different from the words of Masahiro, what he had been saying just now was about the shogunate and the shogun, but in the end it was the management leader, obviously this matter still needs the participation of the management leader, well, it is better to tell the general everything he heard today, and let the general make his own choice.

Zhengheng clapped his hands and said, "Okay, okay, you've been here for a long time, let's go, I'll send you out of the city." Regardless of Hosokawa Fujitaka's reaction, he walked straight out of the door, and Hosokawa Fujitaka had to follow, just like his entourage.

Hattori and his son Hattori Masanari never had a chance to talk to Zhengheng, but when they sent Hosokawa Fujitaka out, they saw their true faces from a distance, and they were really young. Hattori thought of it, but his son's eyes flickered.

In the Tsurushou Town Hall, Hosokawa Fujitaka ordered people to sit in preparation before leaving, and saw that Hattori Baocho came in a hurry and knelt in front of him, which made him frown, and he was very disgusted with the other party's rudeness, he was born in the famous Hosokawa clan, and the other party was only a lowly ninja, and he dared to sit on an equal footing with him.

Hosokawa Fujitaka thought of the impact he received today, and he really didn't want to make any extraneous troubles, just as Hattori Baochang didn't know etiquette, he asked, "What is Date Himasa's strength?" "Due to the frequent movement of the Date Army, it is difficult for outsiders to tell how strong the Date Army is.

Hattori replied: "The strength of the Date Army in preparing China is nearly 10,000, and the rest of the country is divided into two parts, one part is directly under the jurisdiction and the other part is under the control of the local people, and the number of troops directly under the jurisdiction is roughly around 35,000 to 40,000, and the total strength is about 50,000. However, all the troops under his direct jurisdiction are standing armies, and it is obvious that a lot of financial resources are needed to arm such a large-scale standing army, which is also a place that is incomprehensible, the western country is mountainous, and the fields are not very fertile. ”

Hosokawa Fujitaka gritted his teeth and said: "You mean that he also has a secret source of financial resources, which is a direct channel for overseas trade, but it is very possible." Then he pondered again, what was the use of knowing that there was such a trade route.

Hosokawa Fujitaka glanced at Hattori Baochang, today Zhengheng regarded him as an entourage, and now a little ninja will not surrender him in his eyes, this hateful guy can't continue to stay in the shogunate, he thought like this, and said: "This secret passage may be very important, today I will write to Date Tsushimasa to resign, I will recommend you to Date Yamasa at the end, what do you think?" ”

Hattori was shocked, it was not that Hosokawa Fujitaka would recommend him to Date Masahiro, but before coming to see Hosokawa Fujitaka today, his son told him that if he wanted to stay, he had to treat Hosokawa Fujitaka arrogantly, and then don't rush to agree when Hosokawa Fujitaka said that he recommended it to Date Masahiro. didn't expect his son to say everything accurately, so according to Hattori Masanari's meaning, his face showed a tangled, with a look of wanting to refuse but not daring, and said, "Recommend me to Date Himasa, this?" ”

Seeing the look of the Hattori security chief, Hosokawa Fujitaka was happy and said, "Not bad." Ostensibly, I want you to become Date as a general, but in fact, I want you to report the situation about Date to the Shogun and me through a third party. Your wives and wives will stay here, and I will protect them for you. Don't make another mistake this time, the first task is to find out the situation of that secret financial route. ”

Hosokawa Fujitaka asked Hattori to wait in the courtyard again, and he returned to his room and sat down in front of the desk to write a farewell letter. (To be continued......)