It's mid-June, and the weather is getting hotter, Osaka. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Surrounded by rivers on all sides, the Kamo River, Shirakawa River, Katsura River, Yodo River and Uji River in the north converge to form a large river, and the Domeiji River and Yamato River in the southeast also flow into it.

Under the rising sun, on the high post, the political balance stands in hand, and the abyss is heroic. He looked at the castle of Osaka under construction, and when the lord was finished, he would move there and become the de facto center of the new government, thus consolidating the region.

Zheng Heng's voice sounded slowly, and he said, "When will it be completed?" ”

Bending down respectfully, Soda Tsuda waited for a long time with two craftsmen, one old and one young, and he replied respectfully: "The main building of the Honmaru will be completed in another three months, and it will take five months for the internal beams, columns, carvings, paintings, etc., and the Honmaru will be completed before the arrival of winter." Follow-up works include fortifications such as Nido Castle, Mido Castle, multiple water hori and canals, and an eight-kilometer-long castle town outside the castle, which will take even longer. ”

Zhengheng replied noncommittally, looked up at the two people who were following Tsuda Soda, and asked, "Who are?" ”

The two of them probably haven't seen such a big official as Zhengheng, or they were frightened by the rumors of Zhengheng's demonization, and when they heard Zhengheng's questioning, the two of them had already knelt down as soon as their legs were weak, kowtowed again and again, and said in their mouths: "Taro (Jiro), meet the lord of the country." ”

Their actions made Zhengheng stunned. He asked Tsuda Soda to come over to inquire about the progress of Osaka Castle, but he didn't expect that Tsuda Soda would come with two strangers, judging from their clothes, they were obviously craftsmen and were at the level of a townman.

Zhengheng was stunned, Tsuda Soda was a little flustered, and stepped forward to introduce: "Lord, forgive the sin, these two people are the hall master Taro and the heir Jiro of the Vajra Group, both of whom are first-class craftsmen in Kinai, and the internal structure is mainly completed by their Vajra Group. ”

It has been nearly 1,000 years since the establishment of the Kongogumi, and it is rumored that Prince Shotoku invited the craftsman Yoo Chongguang from Baekje, North Korea to build Shitennoji Temple, and thus began the glorious history of the Kongogumi of the Yoo family.

Zhengheng also knew that the King Kong Group had survived to the new century, and many prominent families were lost in history, and the King Kong Group, which strived to adhere to the "spirit of craftsmanship and craftsmanship", became the oldest family business, and has gone through social changes and passed down from generation to generation.

Zheng Heng sighed, turned his face to look at the two, and said, "I see, but you have to treat them well, I don't know how many people you can send?" ”

The two members of the King Kong Group immediately replied: "There are a total of seventy-three members of the King Kong Group, and all of them have been sent here, and they will definitely complete the task of the Lord of the Kingdom as soon as possible." The two of them said as they thanked Tsuda with their eyes.

Zhengheng bowed slightly, and said: "This is very good, do it well, don't worry, when the Osaka Castle Honmaru is completed, the Kongo group can send one person out of Shiida's house to serve as the commissioner who is in charge of the construction of the temple and garden, well, let's hire it for one hundred and twenty stones." ”

The father and son looked up in amazement, they didn't expect that someone would ask them to go out of the Shiida family with this, Yulu didn't seem to be tall, but it was already a great honor to be promoted from a craftsman to a samurai, until they saw Zhengheng's impatient face, and hurriedly bowed and cried: "Thank you, thank you Lord of the country." ”

Zhengheng waved his hand lightly, and Tsuda Zongda looked at the father and son of the King Kong group with a slightly disdainful gaze in his eyes, and asked them to retreat after a few words. Tsuda Zongda hesitated for a moment and said in a low voice: "Lord, they are just craftsmen, why?" ”

Zheng Heng glanced at Tsuda Zongda, a trace of unswerving color flashed in his eyes, and he quickly covered up the past, and said: "The King Kong Group has existed for nearly a thousand years, participated in countless projects, and accumulated a lot of information. ”

Zhengheng has always valued craftsmen, and in order to forge firearms when he was preparing for the middle of the year, he successively promoted many craftsmen to become saber warriors, which also gave him a taste of sweetness. This Kongogumi is the main craftsman who built Osaka Castle, and if he doesn't hold it tightly in his hand, he will let others peek into the reality of Osaka Castle.

Tsuda Soda's scalp was numb, and he was busy asking for forgiveness.

It was all because he thought that he was born as a merchant, and the social hierarchy in the Warring States period had not yet been solidified, but the Shinong industry and commerce still circulated in the depths of the world's thoughts, placing the samurai at the top of all classes and the merchants under the peasants and laborers.

Zheng Heng didn't blame him, and waved his hand to let him go down.

Tsuda Soda left in fear.

Hattori Masanari arrived in a hurry, saluted, and reported: "My lord, Echigo's Nagao Keihu acted erratically, deceived everyone in the name of going out to Echichu, and then suddenly captured Ueno Numata Castle with a devastating momentum, according to the spies' report, Numata Castle was defeated, and the wolf ran to the pig, and the city lord Numata Yasumoto was begged for the head. ”

The Numata clan was prominent in Tone Prefecture for a while, and even if it was the entire eastern part of Ueno Province, it was nothing if you looked at the vast Kanto region and then expanded to the whole of Japan. However, the reason why it became the first place of attack of Nagao Jinghu is that the new head of the Numata clan, Numata Yasumoto, is the second son of Hojo Tsunari, the former name of Fukushima Sun Kuro, and the younger brother of the Hojo clan, also known as the Hojo clan, which can be said to be the nail that Gohojo wedged into Ueno Province. Historically, Numata Yasumoto escaped and fled back to Odawara Castle, and later followed his brother Hojo Shigeru to fight in various places. However, in this article, because no one expected the whereabouts of Nagao Jinghu to wander, he went straight into the hinterland of Tone County and surrounded Numata Castle.

Masahiro smiled indifferently, obviously seeing something interesting from the military newspaper, and said: "As soon as Numata Castle is broken, Nagao Keitora will soon be able to uproot all the Ueno domestic ministers from the forces of the Later Hojo side, but looking at his style of acting, it is a little different from usual?!" ”

Hattori is puzzled.

Zhengheng smiled and didn't explain much, and the military report mentioned that Nagao Jinghu ordered Murakami Kuniqing to join the Numata clan and became the adopted son of Numata Xiantai, which means that Murakami Kunikiyo sat in the position of Hojo Yasumoto.

Normally, the long-tailed Jinghu would not be so ugly. It often supports local wealthy families. Numata Kentaiko, the former head of the Numata clan who was expelled by the Hojo clan, is still alive and fled to Echigo Province to join Nagao Keitora, who was supposed to be the head of the Numata clan.

Murakami Kunikiyo is the grandson of Murakami Yoshikiyo, the lord of Katsuo Castle in Shinano Ueko, who fought against Takeda Harunobu all his life, defeated Takeda Harunobu twice, and defected to Nagao Jinghu after defeat, triggering the Battle of Kawanakajima. Murakami Yoshikiyo married his eldest daughter Xu to his younger brother's eldest son, leaving a son who would later become Murakami Kunikiyo. Historically, Murakami Kunikiyo inherited the family name of the Yamaura Uesugi clan, a branch of the Echigo Uesugi clan, and changed its name to Yamaura Kunikiyo. But now it can only be called Numata Kunikiyo.

It is worth mentioning that while arranging for Numata Kunikiyo to join the Numata clan, Nagao Keitora was logical and decisively integrated all the forces of the Ueno Numata clan into his direct subordinates, and wedged the power of Echigo Province into Ueno Province.

Zhengheng can be seen from the military newspaper for a moment or two, the long-tailed Jinghu looks ugly, but under the absolute strength, no one in Ueno dares to say anything.

Zhengheng read the military newspaper twice repeatedly, and found that there was not much to do without Takeda Harunobu, and asked, "What is Takeda Harunobu doing?" ”

Hattori is looking confused, as a long-tailed Keiho's lifelong enemy, Takeda Harunobu If he doesn't make the slightest move, can he still be regarded as a Kai Tiger on a par with the dragon of Echigo?! Hattori Masanari thought about it, shook his head and said, "Takeda Harunobu hasn't made any moves?!" ”

The corners of Zhengheng's mouth were owed, and he said: "Impossible, there must be something that we don't know about." Otherwise, with Takeda Harunobu's personality, he will sit back and watch Nagao Jinghu show off his power in Ueno Country, judging from Nagao Jinghu's current style, he has no intention of taking Odawara Castle directly, once Ueno Country is swallowed, Takeda Harunobu will be attacked on his back. Check, you have to check it out for me?! ”

Hattori Masanari replied and said respectfully, "Yes, lord." ”

Indeed, Masahiro deduced from the matter of Numata Kunikiyo that Nagao Jinghu changed his previous style, and he wanted to take it step by step, digest the swallowed territory and then carry out the next offensive, which can be seen from the strength of his attack on Ueno Province.

Kuroda officers and soldiers rushed over with a military newspaper and reported: "My lord, Wakasa **** report, Kaga Honganji Temple has sent troops, and Asakura Yoshikage fled into Wakasa Province to ask for protection." ”

Zheng Heng took the military newspaper and read it at a glance, his expression was shocked, and he said: "Asakura Yoshikage is really cowardly, there are still five thousand Asakura troops in Tsuruga County, and all of them are there, and they actually fled into Wakasa Province alone, hey, I'm afraid Tsuruga County won't be able to hold it for long." Tell Katayama Gonsaku to give them a head-on blow. ”

Echigo, Kanesaki Castle, Tsuruga County.

The morning fog covers the land, and it is impossible to see it from a distance of several meters, and the weather in Hokuriku is really bad, winter comes very early, and summer is full of fog. A huge red sun rose in the morning mist, and the warriors of the Asakura family stood at the head of the city, looking out of the city with their eyes wide open, all with serious expressions and tense atmosphere.

When the morning fog dissipated, everyone was horrified to see that Kanesaki City had fallen into a heavy encirclement, as far as the eye could see, there were all 10,000-character flags and headscarves tied to the headscarf, and the voice of Amitabha Buddha resounded in the sky, and more than 100 horsemen came out of the army, and the leading monk was Qili Lai Zhou. Since the "Xiangroku Confusion", the forces affiliated with Ishiyama Honganji have defeated the local forces of Kaga Province like autumn winds sweeping away the leaves, and after the execution of Honsenji Rengo in Kaga Province, Kaga Province has completely fallen into the hands of Ishiyama Honganji, and Nanori Raishu has become the official of Kaga Province with a piece of paper, ruling the whole country.

Originally, Honganji Temple was like a defeat and death, and the Nanori Raishu without a backer once sank, but now the prestige of Shichiri Raishu in Kaga is in full swing, and it is in his hands that Echizen Province has made new progress.

Qili Lai Zhou looked at Jinqi City for a while, shook his head slightly, and said: "It seems that this Jinqi City will not surrender, get ready to attack the city!" "He was very good at observing the clouds, and from the changes in the clouds, he could roughly see the situation, and he thought that Kanesaki Castle was going to be attacked, and no one objected.

His lieutenant Sugiura Genren hurriedly arrived, wiped a handful of sweat, and reported: "Official, there is an army of the Date family stationed in Wakasa country, and the number is about four or five thousand, according to the believers of Wakasa country, it comes from Tango country, and its combat power is quite strong. ”

Qili Lai Zhou received the warning and was unimpressed. The number of Date troops was only four or five thousand, and the number of believers under his command exceeded 120,000, of whom 35,000 were believers, which was a real number, and there was no water mixed with the slightest, and he was afraid that there was a force far less than his own.

However, Qili Lai Zhou did not pause, and he immediately ordered a strong attack.

The morale of the defenders in Kanesaki Castle was low and the morale of the army was weakened, and although the people of the Asakura family were very encouraging, they had already collapsed psychologically, and although Asakura Yoshikei went to ask for help from the Date family, in fact, no one knew that he was a coward and became a deserter.

Qili Lai Zhou attacked the city, attacked in a big way, pressed the whole line, and the momentum was like a rainbow.

The people of the Asakura family commanded the men and horses of the headquarters to defend desperately, and the two sides fought very fiercely, with many casualties. Seeing the fatigue of Kanesaki Castle, Shichiri Raishu stepped up his offensive in an effort to achieve victory in the short term and complete the great cause of unifying Echizen Province, so as not to have too many dreams at night.

When attacking the inner circle of Kanazaki Castle, they encountered problems, and the narrow terrain could not allow the Kaga people to form a numerical advantage, so they could not be deployed, and the tragic siege battle reached a tug-of-war and a stalemate battle, and this kind of close-range skirmishing made the Asakura army barely resist.

The tragic siege battle made every inch of Kanesaki Castle burn and be soaked in blood. The believers who were brainwashed by their faith shouted "Build a Buddhist country, go to the western heavens!" The slogan rushed towards Kanesaki Castle one after another, and bit down on the next piece of meat fiercely.

After three days of hard fighting, Kanesaki Castle was cornered, and the Kaga people also suffered heavy losses. Seeing the dawn of victory, he once again ordered the Kaga people to launch an offensive with an overwhelming momentum, vowing to uproot Kanesaki Castle, the stronghold of the Asakura family.

Located on a hill at the entrance to Wakasa at the junction of Wakasa and Echizen, stands the fortified castle Kuniyoshi Castle, which repelled the uninterrupted fierce attacks of the Echizen Asakura clan, shattered the ambitions of the Asakura family countless times, and trapped the Asakura family firmly in Echizen Province.

Under the castle of Kuniyoshi, the three thousand Danhou led by Katayama Moricho and Hengcho father and son appeared under the castle, and Awaya Katsuhisa had already quietly covered them up according to the plan.

Hirocho Katayama asked in a low voice, "Father, are you starting to attack?" ”

Katayama shook his head and said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, wait!" He held a spear in one hand, stared at the battle situation in Kanesaki Castle with blazing eyes, and listened to the voice of Jin Ge Iron Horse, his blood was boiling, he had not been so excited for a long time.

Suddenly a fire broke out in Kanesaki Castle, and thick smoke billowed into the sky.

Katayama put on his helmet, raised his hand and pointed straight ahead, and shouted: "Attack!" (To be continued.) )