$ Chapter 174 17. Matsunaga Hide Ascends the Imperial Palace

Some people are dead when they are alive, and some people are more exciting after they die than thousands of living people.

The Miyoshi Army on the street at least did not arrest anyone at random, even the samurai footgaru from all over the country who were obviously rushing to the imperial palace. Matsunaga Hisahide and Ashikaga Yoshiteru seemed to still retain a minimum of restraint, and would not completely tear their faces apart until the last moment.

How could Kobayata care about these things? He left the Yamanouchi residence and rushed to the general's imperial palace, only to see countless samurai footgaru tied with white silk tightly surrounding the courtyard wall. In the imperial palace, the Ashikaga two-horse flags and pure white cloth banners, which represent the highest authority of the world's samurai families, were flying high.

When he was allowed to enter the imperial palace by the gatekeepers, the imperial palace had already changed its scene. The originally elegant courtyard was full of soldiers. The samurai footgaru who came and went in the corridors and courtyards were all armed with guns and swords, and the Kyoto maids who once strolled gracefully were nowhere to be seen.

As for the Hana no Gosho, which should have been exquisite, magnificent and grand, it had already become as dilapidated and decadent as the Muromachi shogunate during the war. The shoji gate, which should have been made of top-grade Kyoto paper, looked like it was just framed with ordinary Japanese paper. The red lacquer on the doorposts was also mottled, and even in some places, only the dark wood color remained.

But now the pure white cotton cloth wrapped the hall layer by layer, which complemented the dilapidated hall very well. The atmosphere of the entire palace was directly set off to be extremely sad, and with the heavy threats from Matsunaga Hisahide outside, a kind of belief that the army of the underdog will win was even more firm.

There was a cloth awning at the entrance of the palace, but fortunately there was no smoke and fog of incense, candles and paper money, pretending to be mysterious. Looking closer, there were soldiers with swords and guns drawn on one side and monks and priests chanting Buddhist scriptures on the other. The soldiers were silent, wiping their swords and guns, checking their armor, and putting on and taking off their helmets. The monks and priests were chanting and praying for the deceased Ashikaga Yoshiharu. Those who went against the mountain gate in Kyoto always had the courage to not fear death, so they were not afraid of being involved in the war.

This strange cooperation was reflected in Xiao Pingtai's eyes without any cover.

Under the introduction of the waiter, Xiao Pingtai passed through the heavily guarded porch and outer room and saw Ashikaga Yoshiteru, who was dressed in black, without armor, and had a majestic and sad face. Dozens of old and young shogunate officials knelt down at his side, and there were also several children from a few years old to teenagers, both men and women, who were led by the servants to cry beside them.

The atmosphere in the hall was neither good nor bad, and it was similar to the current situation in Kyoto. Except for a few young children who were crying, the other adults looked mournful, but they were more worried and uneasy about the current situation in Kyoto. After all, the strength of the shogunate was still not enough. Compared with the behemoth Miyoshi family, although it was not as strong as a grain of rice compared to the bright moon in the sky, it was also limited.

Seeing this, Kobayata had a rough idea in his mind. He straightened his clothes and tucked a few hairs behind his ears to make himself look more dignified.

"The Ashikaga clan, the imperial attendants, the Shinshu Yamanouchi clan's generals, the governor of Toshu Ejiri Castle, and the Sukoji Danshoda Tadatsuna came to express their condolences!" The waiter announced loudly. The name on the top of the head was all Yamanouchi Yoshiharu. The name of a powerful and famous person with a wealth of 100,000 kan was always more powerful than Kobayata's bunch of dead cheap ancestors, and could calm the scene and scare people.

As soon as the waiter's announcement fell, Kobayata hurriedly restrained his expression, walked forward quickly, knelt down with great respect, pretending to be in grief, and expressed his condolences to the dead shogun who could still stir up the world.

Then he stood up and knelt down with great respect to Ashikaga Yoshiteru. He did enough superficial work and gave Ashikaga Yoshiteru enough face.

"The Yamanouchi Urinary Guards have been loyal to the shogunate for generations, which is really thoughtful." (He thought Kobayata was sent by Yamanouchi Yoshiharu to mourn Ashikaga Yoshiharu and support his important ministers.) Ashikaga Yoshiharu calmly asked Kobayata to stand up and praised Yamanouchi Yoshiharu.

"My lord, you heard that the late shogun died young, and you are extremely sad. If it weren't for the chaos in the country and it was difficult to get away, you would have come here in person." Kobayata had to follow his words. After all, Kobayata did happen to be in Kyoto and did come to this flower palace. Moreover, as a member of the Ashikaga clan of the Seiwa Genji, Yamanouchi Yoshiharu would definitely send someone when he heard that the previous head of the Ashikaga clan had passed away.

Kobayata agreed to it first. Anyway, Ashikaga Yoshiteru was just trying to show his strength, not to ask Kobayata to really do anything. Kobayata just needed to wait for the funeral personnel sent by Yamanouchi Yoshiharu to arrive and communicate with him.

"It's good that the Yamanouchi family has this intention. I have always known the loyalty of the Yulin." Ashikaga Yoshiteru nodded to show that he knew. He really cared about this attitude and position issue and did not ask for more.

The brief meeting ended quickly, and Kobayata withdrew. In addition to the main hall, after wandering around, he found the Yamanouchi soldiers who stayed in Kyoto and learned all the reasons. He had a better understanding of the current situation and trends in Kyoto and knew it well.

The forty or fifty Yamanouchi were originally hastily recruited to assist in the defense of the Imperial Palace. They had only been in the Imperial Palace for two days. Previously, Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu was the companion who stayed in Kyoto. Now that Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu was gone, they almost had chaos among themselves. Now that Kobayata had arrived, they had a backbone and said that they would obey Kobayata's orders. They were ready to fight to the death with the traitor Matsunaga Hisahide at any time and sacrificed themselves for the Yamanouchi family.

There is no need to sacrifice, this battle should not be fought according to history. Ashikaga Yoshiteru died so heroically, and anyone who knows a little about the history of the Japanese Warring States period is familiar with the sentence: "The rain in May is still fierce, and I will send my name to the cuckoo wings, and fly up to the sky." He fought alone for three hours, and his sword was blunt, so he was heroic.

But the situation outside was treacherous and tense, and people couldn't see clearly. Even Kobayata couldn't be sure whether Ashikaga Yoshiteru would die early or wait until later.

After letting the Yamanouchi people guard the palace with peace of mind, Kobayata prepared to use his expertise to inquire about the news from other samurai teams loyal to the shogunate.

At this time, a loud announcement came from outside, "Kyoto Soshidai Matsunaga Danjo has arrived!"

? ? ?

Did Matsunaga Hisahide come to the enemy's base camp in person?

Kobayata hurried to see, and saw a warrior of this era, about fifty years old, wearing a plain Wufu, without guards or followers, walking from the gate of the Imperial Palace to the main hall with his head held high.

Passing by the large cloth tent enshrining the tablet of Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Kobayata noticed a slight sneer on the corner of his mouth, but it disappeared quickly.

"Bomber" Matsunaga Hisahide is on the stage!