Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

At this time, Karasuma Mitsunori should still be hibernating in Kyoto. When spring arrives and the weather clears up, he will run off to the villa that Otsu gave him and start his summer vacation.

Karasuma Mitsunori, who rushed to Kishiwada Castle, said that he already knew about the construction of the Sento Palace and that he had previously participated in the construction of the palace as a member of the court nobles.

He also brought a book that is said to be written by Tachibana Toshitsugu.

In the "Tsubaki Chronicle", Tachibana Toshitsuna was a court noble during the Heian period, the second son of the regent Fujiwara no Yorimichi, and the adopted son of Tachibana Toshito, the governor of Tōtōmi. He was a leading "garden maker".

Everyone was overjoyed, but simply reading this book isn't enough; self-taught individuals take time. Even if everyone here is a cultured person, and speaks eloquently, it's not enough to create a proper courtyard.

Then I have to ask, given Japan's system of hereditary succession, where a father who practices painting will have a son who will paint, and a father who practices incense ceremony will have a son who will burn incense, what about the descendants of Tachibana Toshitsugu? Aren't you government officials all supposed to practice hereditary succession?

Speaking of this, Karasuma Mitsunori shrugged. "Don't listen to those Fujigen-tai Tachibana families. It seems like the Tachibana family is as prestigious as the previous three. In reality, the old Tachibana family collapsed six hundred years ago, completely and utterly. Now, they're not even ranked anymore; they've become a 'lower-class noble family.'"

This "low-class" is not the same as that "low-class". To put it bluntly, it means the middle and lower classes, the lower level. The "low-class public" refers to the homes of high-ranking officials of the third rank or above who can no longer leave their homes.

The last member of the Tachibana family to hold the position of Junior Third Rank Councilor was Tachibana Kōhei, who took office in the first year of the Eikan era (983), almost six hundred years ago. During the Muromachi period, the Imperial Court, taking pity on their family, granted them the privilege of "ascending the palace," which ultimately...

The family's status was restored. The elder of the Tachibana clan could theoretically obtain the rank of Junior Third Grade, but he held no official position.

Powerless and without influence, and with the imperial court's finances increasingly depleted, the family simply lacked the resources to undertake large-scale garden construction. What kind of family tradition of garden construction did the Tachibana family possess? They were merely managing to maintain a hereditary position as the head priest of the Ume-no-miya shrine (the god of wine), living a life of poverty.

Why were they poor? Because during the chaos of the Ōnin Bunmei era, the Ume-no-miya shrine was burned down in 1474, leaving only a shrine with a yield of 59 koku to survive.

"What should we do?" Shichibei shrugged, clearly not kidding.

“Since the Marquis of Bolu has issued an order, we might as well use his name to widely recruit craftsmen throughout the land,” said Karasuma Mitsunori.

"You mean..." Karasuma Mitsunori was Shichibei and Waka's teacher, so he should indeed be addressed with a respectful title.

"The time is now for Marquis Bolu to take charge of all affairs of state and to exert his influence."

"Oh!" You're blind, you should have said so earlier.

Nobunaga is now serving as Grand Chancellor, a position that hasn't been held for centuries. Furthermore, the positions of Grand Minister of State and Regent have been effectively sidelined, causing a degree of disarray within the court's structure.

At such a time, Shichibei might as well issue an official document to the whole world.

Following the "Imperial Instructions of the Grand Chancellor," craftsmen were recruited from across the country to work in the courtyards.

What is the "Great Minister's Imperial Decree"? There is an example: Ashikaga Yoshimitsu of the Muromachi Shogunate, after receiving the so-called "King of Japan" title, announced that from now on, his official decrees issued to the public in the form of official documents would be called "King's Imperial Decree".

The very name "teaching" is inextricably linked to East Asian feudalism, where imperial edicts were called "decrees." In Japan, this is equivalent to "teaching." However, from the Kanpaku (regent) to the Shogun, anyone could issue imperial edicts; even the Kamakura Kubo and Furukawa Kubo of the Kanto region could issue imperial edicts.

To demonstrate its distinctiveness and to be of the same rank as the Emperor's edict, or even surpass it by a slight margin, it could be called "the Grand Chancellor's Edict".

"You've been immersed in the court for so long, haven't you?" Shichibei couldn't help but praise Karasuma Mitsunori.

Although we may not be able to complete the construction of the Sento Palace, announcing it to the whole of Japan in the name of "the Grand Chancellor's Edict" will demonstrate that Oda Nobunaga's status is equal to that of the Emperor.

This is exactly what Oda Nobunaga hoped for, and his collaboration with the Yamato Shinto of Japan.

The system was integrated with the imperial court and nobles to create a system that could be bound to the samurai class. However, given Oda Nobunaga's character, he would never allow anyone in Japan to rise above him.

He acknowledged the Emperor, but he, Oda Nobunaga, was the one who guided and educated the Emperor.

He was not acting as regent in place of the young emperor or as the regent in charge of state affairs, but rather he was above the emperor and directed the emperor's actions.

If Shichibei's order is issued and a craftsman is found to repair the Sento Palace, everyone will be happy. Even if they can't find one, it doesn't matter; at least Nobunaga will be happy.

Then just find someone else to build the Sento Palace, and that's it. Japan is so big, with 12 million people, I don't believe we can't find someone with that ability.

Otherwise, why would so many famous gardens be built one after another after entering the Edo period? They must have been passed down during this time, but they weren't made famous.

"I will send a letter to Luoyang to inform the lord of this matter. Find someone to make a thousand copies, no, three thousand or five thousand copies, and post them at every intersection in every street across the country." Shichibei immediately gave the order to everyone.

After carefully considering the wording, Shichibei picked up his pen and began to write, beginning with the words: "By the decree of the Grand Chancellor, we shall recruit men from all directions to serve in the court."

546. A thousand masters and disciples can form a courtyard.

Soon, even in the streets of Kyoto, notices were erected, and the same was true in front of bridges everywhere. Looking up, one could see the "Imperial Edict of the Grand Chancellor," clearly telling everyone that the world was changing.

Naturally, the news reached Nobunaga's ears. Even the copied advertisement was torn off and delivered to Oda Nobunaga.

At first, Nobunaga thought Shichibei was making a fuss over nothing when he heard that Shichibei was actually recruiting gardeners all over the world. In his opinion, if all else failed, he could just find an existing garden to copy.

Oda Ujiharu, the lord of Oda Castle in Kanto, whom we mentioned earlier, was someone Nobunaga specifically sent to copy when he built the Totani Residence in Gifu Castle.

Now, just copy it again. Oda Ujiharu's father, Oda Seiji, was a genuine Horikoshi Kubo Ashikaga Masatomo. He was merely adopted into the Oda family, but his bloodline was noble. Naturally, his taste was also noble; later archaeological discoveries revealed that half of Oda Castle's area was filled with ponds and gardens.

But when Nobunaga saw Shichibei's notice, he burst into laughter, not only not finding Shichibei's elaborate efforts useless, but also thinking...

Is he going to issue another announcement right away?

Those with talent in garden design and construction can visit the Nijo Imperial Palace in Kyoto. However, they must bring their design drawings for the Sento Imperial Palace; a picture is worth a thousand words.

Land for the Imperial Palace is easy to acquire; it can be developed in the outskirts of the capital, so size doesn't matter—tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of square meters are fine. As a retirement home built for the retired emperor, it naturally needs to be befitting his noble status.

However, Nobunaga ultimately suppressed this idea. Right now, it was Shichibei causing trouble, while he was still urging Emperor Ogimachi to quickly go on an inspection tour of Azuchi-Seiryo-den. He wanted to prevent any further complications. If the imperial court raised any questions, he could simply summon Shichibei and make him drink three cups of wine as a punishment; it wouldn't implicate him personally.

In terms of loyalty, Shichibei, Hideyoshi, and Kazumasu, who came from the countryside of Owari, are the best.

Nobunaga himself neither denied nor expressed any opinion. The imperial court in Kyoto, as well as the feudal lords from all directions, had extremely complicated thoughts upon seeing this edict from the Grand Chancellor.

The imperial court felt this was somewhat inappropriate, but Shichibei's reply had already reached Nobunaga, who knew that Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had a precedent of sending "imperial edicts." Therefore, he had recently sent someone privately to inquire about the matter.

The answer was very firm.

I didn't do this randomly. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu did it first. If you don't believe me, go ask Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was someone who almost became the retired emperor. He could do it, but I, Oda Nobunaga, cannot.

As for the feudal lords, they all realized that not only had the title of public official been transferred to Oda Nobunaga, but even the highest authority of the nation had begun to change.

Especially Mori Terumoto, who had just returned to his home turf in Aki, and his two uncles. They gained a very direct understanding of the Oda clan's power structure in the central government in Kyoto. After the Grand Chancellor was appointed, Nobunaga had effectively become the leader of both the court nobles and the samurai class.

After taking over the old order of the Muromachi Shogunate, Oda Nobunaga then jumped into the Shinto system and aristocratic order of Yamato, Japan, and began his reforms.

It was a bit dazzling, a bit complicated, and confusing, but Nobunaga's power was growing stronger step by step, which everyone could see.

Two days after the notice was sent out, before Nobunaga's reply arrived, Sen no Sōichi arrived at Kishiwada Castle to pay his respects to Shichibei.

Sen no Sōyū, a world-renowned master of the tea ceremony, actually harbored some ambitions to intervene in politics. Due to Japan's highly distorted political power structure, samurai, monks, imperial concubines, wet nurses, and powerful ministers could all wield power. Essentially, as long as one was at the core of power, one's status became irrelevant; anyone could interfere in politics.

Unfortunately, after Oda Nobunaga marched on Kyoto, due to the presence of Shichibei, the first person to cooperate with the Oda clan was Tsuda Munekichi, who was acquainted with Shichibei. After Nobunaga had largely established himself in the Kinai region, Shichibei had even recruited Takeno Munekazu as a subordinate in Sakai.

Therefore, Sen no Ichi, as one of the original merchants employed by the Miyoshi family and a major merchant who monopolized the salted fish industry, did not integrate into the Oda regime despite having the reputation of being a master of the tea ceremony.

This time, he finally found a possible opportunity to integrate, so he quickly ran to find Shichibei. As one of the members of Sakai, Sen no Michiko knew Shichibei and had interacted with him many times.

While others might not know how to design gardens or create landscapes, he had some knowledge of them. He even secretly moved some stones from Emperor Nijō's garden to use as water basins and garden stones in his own pavilion.

One can only say that he was quite daring, daring to take stones from the Emperor's tomb.

It's pitiful. The imperial court was truly weak in the past, and it lost control over the imperial tombs of all the emperors. It didn't care about such matters, or rather, it lacked the ability to manage them.

However, he himself only dabbled in it; his tea ceremony disciple, Yamagami Sōji, was quite knowledgeable about tea gardens. Moreover, he could provide Shichibei with design drawings on the spot, whatever he wanted, whether it was a shoin-zakura (study hall) or a shinden-zakura (sleeping palace), he could do it with ease.

Yamagami Sōji was also a great merchant, whose business name was Satsuma-ya. As a monk, he called himself Hyōan. He followed Sen Sōyū for about twenty years and served as his assistant for a long time.

Well, during the time when Sen no Sōichi was in power in the Miyoshi family, he enjoyed a period of luxury and comfort. Naturally, he also became involved in politics, so there were many messy matters that he couldn't handle personally, and most of them were handled by Yamagami Sōji. Although he was called a disciple, Yamagami Sōji was more like a secretary, driver, enforcer, or even an umbrella and rain boots for him.

Previously, Sen no Michi was a paragon of virtue, enjoying the reputation of a grandmaster craftsman with virtually no dark side. This dark side, naturally, resided entirely in Yamagami Soji, making him somewhat irreplaceable.

It was later speculated that the rift in their relationship was mainly due to Yamagami Soji also relying on power and influence, and even getting involved with Maeda Toshiie and Hojo Gen'an.

He wanted to establish his own school of tea ceremony, and then openly criticized Sen no Ichi's tea ceremony, trying to move closer to the more ornate and popular tea ceremony of the samurai, and become a guest of honor of the samurai.

That's a story for another time; for now, the two are still two sides of the same coin.

"Can Hyōan really be built as a garden?" Shichibei didn't care about Senjō's ambition to get closer to the center of power again; he only cared about whether the Sendō Palace could be built.

"We also need to transplant trees according to the terrain to create a garden." Before coming here, Yamagami Souji had already made an appointment with his master to go to Kyoto.

"It's a small matter, but I still need to see the blueprints first." Shichibei doesn't mind introducing people to Kyoto, but you really have to be capable.

In garden design, at its simplest, you need the ability to create ever-changing views with every step. At this time, the so-called dry landscape gardens (karesansui) in Japan were not yet widely practiced. Large gardens left from the early Edo period almost never featured dry landscape gardens. Artificial landscaping should also create a lively and dynamic scene.

"Please take a look." Yamagami Soji could only offer one drawing.

The building is symmetrical, with the main house in the center and winding corridors on both sides. It faces a wide pond and features waterside pavilions and gazebos.

A standard, unremarkable garden—at least Shichibei couldn't see anything wrong with it. However, the actual landscaping during construction required all sorts of clever little touches.

The decline in the quality of Japanese garden design in later generations may also be related to the disappearance of monks and intellectuals who possessed power, real access to power, and an understanding of the aesthetics pursued by those in power. The disintegration and disappearance of the aesthetics of Chinese gardens is related to the disappearance of the Confucian scholar-official class. However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing; having a bunch of Confucian scholars wielding influence and causing trouble was certainly a good thing.

"go!"

Without a word, Shichibei, along with Sen no Sōichi and Yamagami Sōji, left. He also gave a heads-up to the castle instructing any more gardeners who came seeking refuge to be sent to the Kawamura residence in Kyoto. The Sendō Palace was still in the site selection phase, and no one had yet been decided who would be appointed; it would most likely be Nobunaga's decision.

We should wait at least a month or two until the news spreads throughout Japan before deciding who will do the job.

He rushed to Kyoto and immediately requested an audience. Upon learning it was Shichibei, Nobunaga immediately made time to summon him, with almost no delay. This greatly shocked Sen no Sōichi and Yamagami no Sōji; even someone like Miyoshi Nagayoshi, considered "half the ruler of the land," had to first see Matsunaga Hisahide's representative.

Official, see Matsunaga Hisahide again, and then Matsunaga Hisahide went to smooth things over, and finally he was able to pay his respects to Miyoshi Nagayoshi.

Normally, they wouldn't even get close to Nobunaga, let alone get close to him. But when Shichibei came, it was like entering the house directly.

What power!

This Kawamura Kyōjō Daifu before me is truly a pillar of the Oda regime. He is clearly a key figure; Nobunaga employed him, and he supported Nobunaga—they complemented each other perfectly.

There was no time for the two to ponder, and Shichibei led them inside. Oda Nobunaga was arranging the visit to Seiryo-dono, so Matsui Tomokazu, Kusunoki Masatora, Hosokawa Akimoto, and Hosokawa Fujitaka were all present. They were all highly cultured individuals; Matsui Tomokazu was skilled in the tea ceremony, Kusunoki Masatora was a member of the Seisonji school of calligraphy, Hosokawa Akimoto was a member of the Kanrei (chief regent) of the Taka family, and Hosokawa Fujitaka was the inheritor of the Kokin Waka Poetry Collection.

Upon seeing Sen no Souichi and Yamagami no Souji, the group even bowed to them. They were all prominent figures, and they knew each other to some extent. Moreover, they had all overheard the servant Sanada Nobuyuki's announcement.

"Shichibei said that you two already have blueprints?" Nobunaga definitely has some requirements for Sento Palace; he can't be stingy.

"Yes." Yamagami Soji quickly took out the diagram, unfolded it, and placed it in front of Nobunaga.

Nobunaga himself didn't understand, so he called over several ministers beside him to come and look, and had Yamagami Sōji explain it to them one by one. Why was there running water? Why were low earthen slopes built? Why were the corridors winding?

Ultimately, this kind of thing requires cultured people. Yamagami Sōji was the main speaker, with Sen no Sōyō assisting, leaving everyone, including Nobunaga, completely bewildered. Nobunaga immediately said that he would take them to see land the next day, and how much land they wanted to acquire was just a matter of Nobunaga's word.

Budget? No budget, just build as nicely as possible. Nobunaga's goal is to shut the retired emperor up, so he won't say that the Grand Chancellor mistreated him, making him live in some shabby cave.

Anyway, Shichibei paid for everything, so Nobunaga just waved his hand and let it go. He could pay it back slowly later. As long as Oda ruled, there was no need to worry about debts.

It seems this deal is going to work out.

After dismissing a group of people, Nobunaga kept Shichibei behind. Two things: first, he was very satisfied with the "Great Minister's Edict" and would do it again next time; second, the progress on the Sento Palace should be expedited, aiming to be completed before next spring.

It could even be completed before New Year's Day next year, the big day when Emperor Ōgimachi abdicates. Then Prince Naruhito will ascend the throne, and he can make a tour of Azuchi in the spring.

"I understand, I understand. How could Shichibei not understand such a small matter?" Remarkably, after finishing his business, Nobunaga even got up to see Shichibei off.

"I've been dealing with a lot of urgent matters lately, and I'm afraid I've involved you in something. Please understand." There was no one around except Sanada Nobushige, who was following him.

Sanada Nobushige and Nobunaga had such a close relationship that they had slept in the same bed together. Nobushige was very tight-lipped, and you could completely ignore him.