Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

Wow, just imagining that scene is beautiful.

Uesugi Kenshin spent his entire life upholding the banner of "Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians," only to be denounced as a traitor by the very shogunate he respected. Tsk tsk tsk, I guess Uesugi Kenshin would have died of a stroke long ago.

Furthermore, the Muromachi Shogunate had a precedent of former shoguns returning to the position of shogun. Ashikaga Yoshitane served as shogun twice, only changing his name to Ashikaga Yoshitane during his second term.

Even though Ashikaga Yoshihide has resigned now, he has served as a shogun for half a year and is now a genuine shogun. His future looks promising.

"Hanbei, how do you think the situation in the capital will change?" Shichibei found the current situation quite interesting, so he asked Takenaka Hanbei, who had also been standing by the bridge.

"Well, it's inevitable that Prince Kubo will succeed to the throne, but the Miyoshi clan hasn't been destroyed yet..." Takenaka Hanbei wasn't some kind of god, and he didn't have the ability to predict things in advance.

The general concern remained the same as that of Oda's retainers: the Miyoshi Triumvirate and Shinohara Nagafusa's 50,000-strong army. As long as these 50,000 men remained alive, Nobunaga's Kyoto would never be at peace.

"Besides that? For example, the Bozhou government has sided with the lord." Shichibei wanted to hear something new.

"Forgive my bluntness, but the Bozhou government itself has no foundation, so I'm afraid it won't be easy for them to escape." Takenaka Hanbei pondered for a moment before beginning his explanation.

First, there's the Sakai clan, most of whom support the Miyoshi family and are now largely on the side of the Miyoshi Triumvirate. Next is Matsunaga Hisahide. Whether he was involved in the killing of the shogun is debatable, but it's true that he opposes the Miyoshi Triumvirate and supports Ashikaga Yoshiaki.

Matsui Yuzan said that the Sakai clique and Matsunaga Hisahide are trying to help Ashikaga Yoshihide leave Sakai and go to Kyoto to join Nobunaga. How feasible is this?

Will the Sakai clan betray Ashikaga Yoshihide? Will Ashikaga Yoshihide trust Matsunaga Hisahide? Can these three parties work together to ultimately allow Yoshihide to escape?

These are all real problems, and in fact, none of them are very optimistic. Matsui Tomokazu and Wada Koremasa are the simplest examples: they think of everything in the direction they most hope for, which is a common human trait. They don't think of things in the direction they least hope for.

Perhaps Ashikaga Yoshihide was deceiving them? As long as Ashikaga Yoshiaki didn't ascend to the throne, Nobunaga's legitimacy remained uncertain. Perhaps the Miyoshi Triumvirate knew about this beforehand and intervened?

In short, all kinds of developments are possible. Those involved are confused, but those who are on the sidelines can see things clearly. Takenaka Hanbei did not think that the people and events along the line of Ashikaga Yoshiei would easily turn to Oda Nobunaga.

"Hmm..." You've got some interesting ideas, haven't you?

What Takenaka said was indeed a possible direction. Shichibei found himself easily aligning things with the line of the premonition, and subconsciously, he really needed someone to talk to him about other ideas and methods.

"If Lord Otate takes the report at face value, he may not be able to wait for the arrival of the Hatsu Prefecture Governor." Takenaka Hanbei doesn't participate in the Oda clan's decision-making anyway, so it doesn't matter if he gets involved a little. He might as well say what he wants.

In the Oda clan, only Nobunaga had the power to make decisions; everyone else only had the right to offer advice. Unless what they said exactly what Nobunaga was thinking, it wouldn't seem as if Nobunaga was taking his subordinates' opinions into account.

“You’re right.” Shichibei nodded slightly; that was indeed the case.

However, if Ashikaga Yoshihide were to die suddenly, it wouldn't really have much impact on Nobunaga at the moment. After all, there's Ashikaga Yoshiaki now; a falling out is a future issue.

How about I give Nobunaga some more information?

Noda Sanbei, who had just changed the horses for Matsui Yuzuru and Wada Koremasa, happened to appear in front of Shichibei. Noda was a complete newcomer; he had previously worked at the small horse ranch, and no one would care whether he was there or not. It was perfect for him to disappear for a while.

While Hanbei was inspecting the quality of the pontoon bridge, Shichibei called Noda over and explained the situation in detail. Then he took out several large gold coins and asked him to bring along a few of Nanbu Saneyoshi's old buddies to set off together.

Let's prepare in advance; we'll use it if we need it, and if not, so be it. But if we do need it, then things will get interesting.

In the past, Shichibei would have stayed out of everything. But now, he loves watching fights, loves watching brawls, loves watching rivers of blood, loves seeing blood splatter on his feet. Life's already so boring, why not be a little entertainer?

I feel secretly happy that I am present and I am in charge.

Leaving that aside, Nobunaga, along with Ashikaga Yoshiaki, entered Kyoto smoothly without any hindrance—a remarkably easy journey. Then, as everyone knows, Nobunaga appointed Kinoshita Hideyoshi, Akechi Mitsuhide, and others as Kyoto Magistrates, establishing three rules for them.

Even robbing a merchant of a single fruit or secretly drinking a sip of water would result in death by beheading. Random hunting and poaching in Kyoto were strictly prohibited, and prominent signs were posted at major intersections, declaring the Oda Army's status as the "Royal Army" and demonstrating the magnanimity of Oda Nobunaga to the world.

In an effort to win over the townspeople of Kyoto and the court nobles, Nobunaga distributed two koku of rice to each noble free of charge. As for the townspeople, they were allowed to borrow grain from the Oda army at an interest rate of thirty percent.

Yes, it's the "triple cut" interest rate.

It was a good policy! The annual interest rate was thirty percent. The townspeople of Kyoto all loved Nobunaga. They thought Nobunaga was really capable, that he could lend money at such a low interest rate.

Of course, the Despotism Edict was not promulgated. It is unknown whether Nobunaga did not want to promulgate it, or whether he waited for Ashikaga Yoshiaki to succeed him as Shogun before promulgating it together.

The people of Kyoto were genuinely delighted. Nobunaga, who neither looted nor plundered upon arriving in the capital, but instead provided relief to court nobles and offered low-interest loans, was truly a pure and innocent figure in a century of war. Even the Imperial Court was surprised that Nobunaga would actually refrain from looting, and even sent people to inquire about the approximate cost of repairing the Forbidden City.

Ultimately, how the palace was rebuilt depended on Nobunaga's wishes, but the way he made this gesture made even the Emperor and Prince Naruhito think that Nobunaga was a very good person.

By the way, for this, the imperial court awarded Nobunaga the title of "the bravest man in the world" (historical fact).

Whether it was to cater to Nobunaga's personal preferences or because there really wasn't much to reward, they just kept bragging for now. Nobunaga himself was happy to accept this kind of fancy stuff, since the Oda clan's lineage really didn't have anything worth boasting about.

Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who was placed in Hongoku-ji Temple in Kyoto, was also allowed to ascend the throne and pay his respects to the Emperor and Crown Prince Naruhito, gradually beginning the various procedures for the Shogun's decree.

Just like the court officials, the career path of a general also follows a general procedure. He is initially given a horse-head rank and appointed as a fifth-rank general. Then, upon becoming a general, he is appointed as a fourth-rank general and given official positions such as councilor or left guard lieutenant general. After serving as a general for several years, he can be promoted to the third-rank general and given the official position of acting great counselor.

By taking it one step at a time, one might have the chance to become a Grand Minister of State while still alive. As for a Senior Grand Minister of State, that is indeed rare; it is almost always a posthumous title.

Nobunaga naturally paid his respects to the Emperor and Prince Naruhito, and received the official rank of Junior Fourth Rank, Danjō-chū. Once in Kyoto, this position of Kenbō-shi (賢非賢使) was the real Kenbō-shi.

The imperial court very cleverly treated Nobunaga with the same treatment as the Shiba Kanrei (regent of the Oda clan), and even bestowed upon him a paulownia crest. Nobunaga accepted it without hesitation; after all, he was prepared to accept any treatment that elevated the Oda clan's prestige, and he did not refuse.

After waiting in Kyoto for three days, neither Ashikaga Yoshihide's resignation letter nor Ashikaga Yoshihide himself arrived.

140. A pot of mung beans can save lives.

three days?

Three days is enough time to make several round trips between Kyoto and Sakai. Even if Ashikaga Yoshihide cannot go in person, as long as his resignation letter is sent to Kyoto, Nobunaga will agree to all the promises he made to Yoshihide.

What does it mean to remain completely silent? Does Ashikaga Yoshihide think he still has room to negotiate a higher price? That shouldn't be the case. Nobunaga has not only entered Kyoto, but has even met with the Emperor. He's practically at the last minute; there's no room for negotiation now.

Nobunaga immediately ordered Wada Koremasa and Matsui Tomokan to go to Sakai again. Whether they brought the man back or not was another matter; their resignation petition had to be delivered. If they didn't receive the petition, neither of them should return; they could remain in Sakai.

Shichibei, who was sightseeing in Kyoto, wasn't in a hurry at all. He had visited Kyoto several times in his previous life and had basically seen everything that was worth seeing. However, there was one advantage to this trip: things that were off-limits in his previous life, he could see freely in this life.

The official purpose was to select a suitable venue for Nobunaga's tea party and renga performance, but wouldn't every door have to be wide open for Shichibei?

Nobunaga now commands an army of over 60,000 men stationed in and around Kyoto, wielding immense power and prestige. Rumors circulate that he will soon assume the position of Kanrei (Kanrei, ruler of the Muromachi Shogunate). Forget about temples and shrines; even the estates and detached palaces of the Regent's family must be open to Nobunaga.

It should be understood that Nobunaga only ordered that no one be killed upon entering Kyoto, not that killing was forbidden. In the past, when feudal lords or people from all over the country came to Kyoto, they couldn't show their power without causing some deaths and setting fires.

So, there really was a statue of Kannon Bodhisattva inside Kinkaku-ji? Shichibei didn't even need to say anything; a monk led him to the third floor of Kinkaku-ji for a tour. At this point, only the third floor of Kinkaku-ji was covered in gold leaf, and it was already quite faded, no longer possessing its former splendor.

The inner three-tiered interior houses twelve statues of various kinds. Among them is a statue of the third shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, though depicted as a monk, quite different from the outer statues dressed in crowns and robes.

The Four Heavenly Kings guarding the Buddha are quite convincing, though I wonder which dynasty they date from. They might be from the Song Dynasty; they are indeed treasures. If they could have been preserved, they would be considered national treasures in East Asian cultural circles.

It's quite nice, but the space is too small; it's not suitable for Nobunaga and his guests to hold tea parties. Shichibei pursed his lips. "Traveling is really tiring. There aren't any rickshaws in Kyoto right now; it's all about riding horses and walking. It's exhausting."

Moreover, many streets are now dilapidated and closed, some even dead ends, making it difficult to walk around. I hope Hideyoshi and his men will pay more attention to governing Kyoto and send over a detailed map of Kyoto in a couple of days.

"Tsk..." Kotaro Sou returned from northern Omi. He was quite excited to hear that he could visit Kyoto, but he seemed a little disappointed after seeing it.

"What?" Shichibei didn't really think it was that interesting, but since he was already here, he didn't care.

Fortunately, there was no major plague or war. Kyoto has had times before when the Kamo River was blocked by 40,000 corpses, and the entire city was filled with filth.

The Shimokyo region has been plagued by war for years, and in the past two years, without the shogunate or government offices to maintain order, theft and even looting are rampant, people are fleeing, and houses are being destroyed, which is all normal.

The dreamlike expectations that people in rural Japan have of Kyoto today are the same as the dreamlike expectations that future generations of Japanese have of Paris.

Once you actually arrive, you'll realize, sigh...

It's a long story.

"It doesn't feel very interesting." Kotaro Sō said honestly. He didn't feel that Kyoto was anything splendid or prosperous. He just felt that it was dilapidated.

"Well, that's enough. After all, we've been through so much war." Shichibei had expected this and was mentally prepared.

At least there's one advantage now: the tourist attractions aren't crowded. If this were in later generations, the streets would be packed with people, with social media influencers taking photos before the sun even rises at four or five in the morning. And once it's light, the people on the streets would be speechless.

Why not find a McDonald's, buy a bag of fries, and watch the foreigners crammed in? Of course, McDonald's will probably be full, so you'll have to get it to go to the riverbank. There are no seagulls by the river, but the birds there aren't afraid of people, and they're happy to have some fries too.

Returning to the small supply depot outside Kyoto, Shichibei rubbed his legs, finding no major reports coming in. The supply line from Gifu to Kyoto was already set up, so there was indeed nothing to report.

Next, I will probably follow Sakuma Nobumori's instructions to begin preparing for the land survey work in southern Omi, as well as collecting land taxes and building taxes from commercial towns.

The Oda army didn't even loot; asking you for a property tax is already quite accommodating.

As Shichibei sat down to rub his legs, he suddenly saw Noda Sanbei gallop in on horseback like a whirlwind, almost bumping into someone. What's wrong with this kid? It's only his first official assignment, and he's already acting all high and mighty.

Just as he was about to reach Shichibei, Noda reined in his horse and stopped abruptly, pulling the horse's front hooves off the ground. His dismount was also very awkward, as he tumbled and crawled.

Even more comically, he crawled over on his hands and feet, but because he was out of breath, he couldn't speak. He could only point backwards, signaling Shichibei to look outside and ignore him.

What's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?

Shichibei, whose legs were still a little sore, stood up, took a couple of steps and looked outside. He saw two mounted men, one of whom was flanking another, riding in. The man between the two looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't quite place him.

Oh, right, like Ashikaga Yoshiaki.

Well, well, well!

Shichibei had only asked Noda to keep an eye on the situation in Sakai and check on Ashikaga Yoshihide's movements. How come he's so powerful now, actually managing to "kidnap" Ashikaga Yoshihide? That's way too exaggerated.

Ashikaga Yoshihide was the true head of the Japanese samurai class, officially appointed Shogun by the Muromachi Shogunate. You dared to kidnap him? Your audacity far surpasses that of Shichibei.

"Koubu has been poisoned! Hurry, hurry, hurry and fetch a doctor..." At this point, Noda Sanbei finally caught his breath and said these words.

"Huh?" Shichibei rushed forward to observe Ashikaga Yoshisaka's appearance. His face was contorted in pain and his complexion was abnormal, but there were no external injuries, so it seemed that he had indeed been poisoned.

What to do? What to do? What to do?

"I don't know how to perform CPR either," the two men said as they helped Ashikaga Yoshisaka lie down on the straw mat, noticing that his condition was getting worse.

Kotaro immediately ran out of the camp to find a doctor. Meanwhile, Shichibei stamped his foot in place and suddenly noticed a whole pot of mung bean soup, the kind you drink to cool off in the summer, next to his bed.

Desperate, Shichibei instructed his servant to pry open Ashikaga Yoshihide's mouth, took a gourd ladle meant for horses, and began pouring mung bean soup into Yoshihide's mouth. Half a ladleful didn't go in, but Shichibei didn't care and kept pouring as much as he could, forcing it down Yoshihide's throat.

These days, neither arsenic nor aconite is easy to obtain. Aconite poison is said to be more poisonous than arsenic, but in most cases, enough aconite poison to kill an adult cannot be collected.

Therefore, the widely used poisons are mostly relatively common plant poisons such as strychnine, oleander, and tripterygium wilfordii. It's said that mung beans can be used as an antidote for this poison. Whether this is true or not, we have no idea; in this situation, we can only try it.

What to do after the irrigation is finished? Shichibei knew nothing; he could only lean the person against the haystack and wait for the doctor to arrive.

Noda Sanbei, on the other hand, finally caught his breath. Actually, there wasn't anything particularly strange about it. They had simply used Matsui Tomokazu's name to visit Ashikaga Yoshiei.

Despite being a shogun with hundreds of servants, Ashikaga Yoshihide, aside from his own confidants, had several dozen "guards" sent by Miyoshi. Whether they were there for security or for surveillance was another matter.

The Miyoshi Triumvirate's attention was entirely focused on Nobunaga at that moment, and they indeed relaxed their surveillance of Ashikaga Yoshihide. If it weren't for this, Noda wouldn't have been able to see Yoshihide.

The main function of those Sanyoshi guards was to prevent Ashikaga Yoshihide from running away or being harmed by someone.

Since no orders were given from above, there was no particular concern regarding receiving guests. Besides, Matsui Yukan was a tea master who frequently met with Ashikaga Yoshihide in Sakaimachi, so the meeting was arranged.

Upon seeing that Noda Sanbei and his entourage had more than a dozen fine horses, one of Ashikaga Yoshihide's confidants hinted that perhaps Lord Nobunaga had sent someone to meet them. In fact, no, and Noda also said no, but the others had their own plans.

Ashikaga Yoshihide, who had a premonition that his tenure as general would not last long, was ready to sell himself for a better price and go to see Nobunaga.

He prepared to flee, but the Miyoshi Triumvirate somehow learned that he might be colluding with Nobunaga. After all, the Hōshū Kubo family had three brothers; if Ashikaga Yoshihide died, another could be installed. The Miyoshi Triumvirate immediately decided to kill the disobedient Ashikaga Yoshihide.

They had already killed Ashikaga Yoshiteru; killing one or two was the same as killing two, so it didn't make a difference.

Noda, who was gathering information and observing the situation outside Sakai, made contact with Yoshihide's confidants. They hinted that he should offer his horse to Yoshihide, and he agreed without consulting them. Then Yoshihide fled in the dead of night with a dozen or so confidants, rushing towards Kyoto as fast as he could.