Chapter 269 3. A Word From the Spring Palace Reveals the Mystery

"From my point of view, this is not difficult to infer." Hosokawa Harumiya looked at Koyata with a smile.

"But please teach me, old man." Koyata was very humble, not treating him as a park Tai Chi master who had withdrawn from the center of power.

"Your Highness, the Prime Minister has a great demeanor and ambition to rule the world, right or not?"

"Your Highness has long had the ambition to go to Kyoto, support the shogunate, and guide the world. The young master also has the spirit of his father and has long-term vision." Koyata knew the thoughts of Yamanouchi Yoshiharu and Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu, and they must have gone to Kyoto.

"Compared with the power of the shogunate, how is the Shinano guardian?" "Of course, there is a huge difference, like the bright moon in the sky compared to the faint light of a firefly."

"That's right." After Hosokawa Harumiya finished speaking, Koyata had already gone through it in his mind and understood it.

Shinano is now mainly divided among Takeda Harunobu, Yamanouchi Yoshiharu and Murakami Yoshikiyo. Takeda Harunobu and Yamanouchi Yoshiharu have completely divided Southern Shinano, while Murakami Yoshikiyo has the most powerful military force in Northern Shinano.

Unfortunately, Murakami Yoshikiyo has a bad relationship with any of his relatives, no savings inside, and no help outside. It is just a time when everyone beats a broken drum, and he is strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

Takeda Harunobu and Yamanouchi Yoshiharu have fought head-on, and both sides have been unable to completely kill each other. Naturally, their thoughts will turn to Murakami Yoshikiyo in Northern Shinano, after all, his strength is inferior to the two big men in Southern Shinano.

In addition, Takanari Masahiro is now raising the flag to cause chaos, and the rear is not peaceful. No matter how powerful Murakami Yoshikiyo is, how much strength can he exert?

Northern Shinano is now a piece of fat meat. Although it is still covered with a layer of shell, Takeda Harunobu and Yamanouchi Yoshiharu are both full of iron teeth and steel teeth, and it only takes some effort to bite the turtle shell.

Takeda Harunobu has a stable retreat, Hojo Ujinao is his son-in-law, Imagawa Hikogoro is his grandson, and Suwa Katsuyori is his son. All three sides are his own people, so he can just go all out to the north.

Yamanouchi Yoshiharu has just pacified Kiso, and facing the Mino Saito clan and the Hida Miki clan, the Udono Nagateru and other state people in Higashi Mikawa have not been won over. Imagawa Yoshichika's rule is not yet stable, and the threat to Suruga is difficult to deal with immediately.

But there is a big man, Uesugi Terutora can just come to Murakami Yoshikiyo from behind.

Rather than facing an aggressive Murakami Yoshikiyo, the Yamanouchi family might as well ignore the title of Shinano guardian and give up some territory to the northern Shinano state people who support Uesugi Terutora. In this way, they can obtain a stable north, and connect with Uesugi Terutora to strengthen the alliance.

And why did Uesugi Terutora come? Although he is a person who respects the authority of the shogunate and is also known for maintaining the feudal order. But if he can do this, can his soldiers and generals do the same?

He still has to find a way to get money and land to reward his samurai and foot soldiers, otherwise who will fight him? So he has to go to Kanto, on the one hand, to fight against the evil bandit Hojo clan and continue the rise and fall. On the other hand, he also plunders and plunders everywhere.

Now Takanari Masayoshi invites him, and he only sends a thousand people to help. What if Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu invites him? Then he will definitely send a large army!

He can make money by sending troops!

Where is the wealth? Of course it is Zenkoji!

As a famous temple dedicated to Amitabha Buddha, Zenkoji has lower temples all over the country, and a huge gate town formed by the endless flow of people who come to worship Amitabha Buddha. It can bring a huge wealth of no less than 100,000 kan every year to the lord who controls this place!

The Takanari clan only has a territory of one and a half counties, but it can play chess with the Murakami clan of six counties. It was because of the huge wealth of Zenkoji that they could make a comeback even if they failed.

There were several records in history that the Murakami clan attacked Zenkoji, but the Takanari clan was not afraid, and several generations of heads ran away holding the image of Amitabha. The temple is not important, the Amitabha enshrined is the source of countless wealth.

Later, when Takanari Masahiro met with Honganji Kokyo Shonin (Honganji Shojo), he immediately presented a thousand kan of wealth. When he met with the shogun and the court, he also presented a sword and a thousand taels of money and silk.

Where did he, a local tyrant, get so much money? It was brought to him by Zenkoji.

Oda Nobunaga destroyed the Takeda clan, and the Mori clan entered the northern part of Shinjuku. The people of the northern part of Shinjuku who were unwilling to be ruled by the Oda family and the "nobushi" of various temples launched a general uprising. The uprising led by the Imada clan and the Suda clan alone reached 8,000 people. What kind of financial resources and personnel are needed to mobilize such a huge army, especially after the Shinano samurai group was cut in half in the Battle of Nagashino, it is even more amazing.

Even if Uesugi Terutora sent troops to assist Yamanouchi Yoshiharu in the battle, he would not occupy an inch of land. He could make a lot of money just by occupying Zenkoji Temple. How could he not come? He must come. [Note 1]

Hosokawa Harunomiya had more than 40 years of bad battles and 60 years of life experience. His eyes watched the rise and fall of three or four generations of generals. The powerful people in the world have changed several times, but he is still as stable as a mountain, with both sons and daughters, happily holding a teacup and bragging to Xiao Pingtai.

It must be said that he can see clearly. Everyone said that in history, Uesugi Terutora was to vent his anger on the northern Shin clan, to strike Takeda Harunobu, and to maintain the peace of the border of Echigo.

But Hosokawa Harunomiya saw at a glance that it was obviously for money! Due to drought and years of war, Uesugi Terutora urgently needed a large sum of quick money to subsidize national expenses. The nearest huge sum of money was at Zenkoji Temple, and he would come even if he risked his life.

The two of them talked for more than two hours without realizing it, and everything was clear.

Ministers should not have too close contacts, so Hosokawa Harumiya did not invite Koyata to dinner. She stood up and sent Koyata out.

"Danzheng, I'm sorry to call you Koyata. A-ling is fifteen years old. The marriage will be arranged as soon as I and His Highness report it."

"You know the matter well. Come and ask in a few days. The marriage of the concubine has been decided. A-ling's marriage was decided early, and I also fulfilled a wish."

Koyata was overjoyed after hearing this. In the past, whether it was Hosokawa Harumiya or Naoe Kagetsuna, they always spoke in a vague way. In addition, their daughters were young and there was no such thing as marriage, so Koyata never paid much attention to it.

Later, as he grew older and his status became higher, there were fewer girls who could match Koyata, so he put it on hold. The samurai families with insufficient status were embarrassed to mention it to Koyata, and not all samurai families with sufficient status had unmarried daughters of the right age.

Now that Hosokawa Harumiya has said it clearly, how can Koyata refuse? The little girl has grown up under his watch since she was a child, and now she has become graceful and generous. Both his father and brother were from the famous Hosokawa family, and they were both highly respected.

In this era, it was impossible to find a better marriage than this. Xiao Pingtai said silently in his heart: "Afune, I'm sorry! Naoe Kagetsuna, your good daughter should be left to Naoe Kanetsugu!"

[Note 1]: Zenkoji Temple is still a huge conglomerate with excellent ability to attract money. In the Edo period, it even built a "Daikōjin" to manage the huge temple property.

According to legend, the gold in the Daiikōjin's house could be stacked up to accommodate 17 standard tatami mats. The house is three meters high. How much wealth is this?