Chapter 688 34. Ashikaga Yoshiaki Establishes His Position in the World
Oda Nobunaga stroked his chin, trying to figure out why the Yamanouchi family was so easy to talk to.
It was naturally good to call him Ashikaga Yoshinaga. Oda Nobunaga actually had no objection and was quite happy in his heart. After all, it was the Yamanouchi family. There were still many discerning people in the family. They knew that they could not beat me, Oda Nobunaga, and were willing to bow their heads.
"Could it be that the Yamanouchi family has accepted their fate and is ready to be a nominal monarch in the future? Or is it deliberately doing this to paralyze me?" Nobunaga's mind was a little confused. The Yamanouchi family did not play by the rules and could even play tricks here.
The name Ashikaga Yoshinaga flattered Oda Nobunaga more than Ashikaga Yoshinobu. If it were seen by some people who did not know the inside story, who knows what would happen.
Our Oda Nobunaga is not a three-year-old child! Starting from the four counties of Owari, he was trapped inside and outside, his brothers betrayed him, and his wife and brother-in-law killed each other. What kind of big scene has he not seen? At that time, Imagawa Yoshimoto's 45,000 men came to attack the mountain, but Oda Nobunaga saved them by sacrificing his life.
Now he dominates Kinai, Nobi, has a huge family business of one million kan, and is the number one daimyo in the world. Did he get it for nothing? He fought with his life, even if there was luck involved, but Oda Nobunaga's own struggle was real.
I won't fall for your tricks!
"I never thought that Yamanouchi would be so aware of the times." At this moment, the chief family elder of the Oda clan was Hayashi Sadano-no-kami Hidetada, who led the Yamanouchi army to Luoyang as the lord of Kiyosu Castle, and was naturally in Luoyang at this moment.
"I really never thought that he would take the initiative to propose to use the name of the elder." The second family elder was Sakuma Uemon-no-no Nobumori, who was responsible for the accompanying reception task.
Nobunaga thought so in his heart, but he knew that those who showed kindness without reason were either traitors or thieves! The probability of falling out with the Yamanouchi family because of the shogunate system was quite high! Oda Nobunaga was clear in his mind, but there were still a few clowns around him who had not been killed. He needed to stabilize the Yamanouchi family until he had time.
The only overlord in the world could be him, Oda Nobunaga!
"Your Highness is so aware of the times, he is really a dragon among men!" Kinoshita Hideyoshi was at the end, but still ranked among the important ministers.
"I'm afraid it's Fujiwara Danmasa's strategy!" Shibata Katsuie was not a pig samurai, and the bottle-breaking Shibata did not rely on muscles alone. Moreover, Kobayata was wise and strategic, Shibata Katsuie had seen it more than once and admired him very much.
"Kobayata?" Oda Nobunaga muttered.
"Why didn't Kobayata come this time!" Nobunaga suddenly realized that as Yamanouchi Taro's tutor, Kobayata did not participate in this trip to Kyoto.
"I really haven't seen Fujiwara Danmasa!" Everyone turned around and didn't see Kobayata at all in the past few days.
"Hmm..."
The world-renowned wise general sister Koji Tsunaie of the East did not show up, but the Yamauchi family proposed this. Could it be that Kobayata was hiding behind the scenes and had some unspeakable secrets?
"Katsuzo! Send someone to check carefully whether Kobayata is in the Yamauchi family!" Kobayata was full of bad water, and Oda Nobunaga never dared to underestimate him.
After hearing the order, Mori Nagako immediately went out to order the Oda party in the capital to find out the specific location of Kobayata.
"What are you going to do, Your Highness?" Niwa Nagahide asked carefully.
"Gorozu, go to the Yamauchi residence in person and tell Matarou that the word Zhang is very good, so use Zhang!"
……………………
The name Ashikaga Yoshiaki was really unexpected by all parties. The Yamauchi family made a move, but Oda Nobunaga did not accept it. The audience found that the two families were in love with each other. Everyone thought it would be a bloody conspiracy, spy war and officialdom drama that could be filmed for at least 16 episodes, but it was decided after a long time of back and forth.
Since the parties involved have made their decision, what else can the onlookers do? In the end, the government sent Prince Makoto to watch the ceremony, which was considered to give enough face to Oda Nobunaga and the Muromachi shogunate. The nobles such as Kanshuji, Kikutei, Ichijo, and Nijo all came to watch the ceremony. The samurai daimyo such as Jiangbei shugo Asai Nagamasa, Kawachi shugo Miyoshi Yoshitsugu, Tamba shugo Hatano Hideharu, and Tango shugo Isshiki Yoshimichi also came in person or sent envoys to watch the ceremony.
The ceremony was held in the Honmaru Palace of Nijo Palace, and there were hundreds of spectators. Hosokawa Fujitaka shaved Yamauchi Taro's hair, Kikutei Haruki braided Yamauchi Taro's hair, and finally Oda Nobunaga crowned him personally.
Yamauchi Taro has since been known as Ashikaga Yoshiaki!
After this, the imperial court issued an order to appoint Ashikaga Yoshiaki to the rank of Junior Second Rank Right Minister and Gon Dainagon, and Ashikaga Yoshiaki to the rank of Imperial Horse Supervisor and Imperial Horse Assistant, and also to the rank of Left Guard Lieutenant General, and was promoted to the rank of Junior Third Rank!
In the future Edo Tokugawa Shogunate, it was rare for the shogun's legitimate son to be appointed to the rank of Junior Third Rank at the age of ten or eight. Since the establishment of the Muromachi Shogunate, Ashikaga Yoshiaki was the first shogun's successor to be appointed to the rank of Junior Third Rank at a young age. To a certain extent, the authority of the Muromachi Shogunate was infinitely elevated at this moment.
In addition, Ashikaga Yoshiaki was young, but he was handsome and had the aura of his father and grandfather. In terms of stature, he inherited the good genes of his father Yamanouchou Yoshikatsu, who was 1.68 meters tall, and now he has reached a height of 1.3 meters, looking like an adult.
The close alliance between the Oda clan and the Yamanouchou clan seemed unbreakable at this moment, and the two cooperated seamlessly. The next day, Ashikaga Yoshiaki led Oda Nobunaga and Ashikaga Yoshiaki to the Imperial Palace to express his gratitude. The man in the palace gave some encouragement, hoping that the samurai would rely on the shogunate to work together to put an end to the chaos.
Then Oda Nobunaga cordially invited Ashikaga Yoshiaki to visit Sakai, and the excitement that Kobayata expected, saying that the Three Miyoshis were extremely evil, did not happen.
Since they were going to visit Sakai, it was difficult for the Yamauchi family to refuse. Including Hosokawa Saijo and others, they did not see through what Nobunaga meant by this move. Anyway, as long as they did not fight the Miyoshi Three, everything would be fine.
Sakai was the most prosperous metropolis in the world, and Nobunaga invited Ashikaga Yoshiaki and his party to visit, which was also in line with the hospitality. He rode back to Gifu Castle on the pretext of being busy with military affairs, selected the people of Owari and Mino, and asked Mikawa's younger brother Matsudaira Ieyasu to lead 5,000 troops to help.
Accompanying Ashikaga Yoshiaki to Sakai were Akechi Mitsuhide and Hosokawa Fujitaka. When the news reached Honganji, Kobayata was still at a loss for a while. Nobunaga was really a good person? Just let the Yamauchi family come over for a while?
However, since the matter at Honganji was almost over, Kobayata simply did not go to the Asakura family first, but prepared to secretly join the Yamauchi family to understand what happened.
The Yamauchi army set out from Luoyang and marched along the Yodo River, and was about to turn to Ishiyama. Kobayata was worried that he would be suspected at Ishiyama, so he said goodbye to Master Kenjo and rushed to Sakai in advance to wait for the arrival of the Yamauchi army.