A samurai who doesn't want to be a daimyo is not a good onmyoji

Chapter 164 The Silver General

After briefly communicating with the Agote Chamber of Commerce and Tennojiya, telling them that he was returning to Kitaomi, Asai Nagamasa rushed towards Kyoto. At this time, only Axiu and the little miko Kaga were left with him.

Shima Sakon and the others will stay near Kai Town and continue to command the army. Aguo will prepare to return to Izumo Shrine to deal with issues related to Huanglong and belief. Tsuda Muneki temporarily gave up learning onmyoji and relearned business management and responsibility from his father. Subsequent trade dealings with the Asai family.

As for the young female ninja Ning Ning, she was entrusted by him to take the lead in returning to Otani City with his handwritten letter to contact Miyabe Tsurun. As long as he saw the letter, he would naturally understand what to do.

He was almost ready here, and it was time for others to really choose to take sides. Although he had roughly anticipated the result, it would be good to let Miyabe Tsurujun confirm it.

What surprised him was that even though he had already spread the news that he was going to Kyoto, he did not encounter any interception or sniping by suspicious people on the way. Instead, when they were about to arrive in Kyoto, they encountered some people at the door. Seems like a visitor from out of town.

Because it is absolutely impossible for the impoverished Kyoto described by Hosokawa Fujitaka and Numata Yumitsu to support such an elite samurai force.

There are young people under 20 years old in this team of dozens of people, as well as old people with gray hair and beards, but they are all riding divine horses, and all of them are wearing hand armor, arm armor, Complete with shoulder armor and greaves, it looks like the most elite samurai at first glance.

The leading warrior is wearing a more advanced, silver-white, gorgeous general's armor, with a white cloak flying on the back. The war horse under his crotch is even more extraordinary. Not only is it more than a head taller than other war horses, but also The hair all over the body remains absolutely consistent, as pure as moonlight, and it looks pleasing to the eye.

But the most attractive thing was the young military general sitting right away. Asai Nagamasa had always been proud of his appearance, but he couldn't help but feel ashamed in front of him.

Because the other person's appearance was so good that he couldn't decide for a while whether he was an extremely handsome man or a heroic woman. All in all, he was a very beautiful military commander, but he would not give anyone any disgust or discomfort.

At the same time, a strong self-confidence that cannot be seen clearly with the naked eye, but actually exists, radiates to everyone who looks at him like sunshine. The feeling is very much like the string of Buddhist beads he found in a dilapidated temple.

Could it be Buddha's light?But why didn't he feel the fluctuation of mana?
While being surprised, Asai Nagamasa also noticed that A Xiu unconsciously clenched her weapon next to her. Generally speaking, she would only make such an action when she felt threatened.

In many cases, the half-demon Axiu is more perceptive than Asai Nagamasa because this is her unique talent.

But Axiu herself is extremely powerful. She has been practicing magic with Asai Nagamasa in recent days, and her strength has improved by leaps and bounds. The opponent still makes her feel threatened. So how strong will the opponent be?

From this point of view, the silver-white general in front of him is definitely not an ordinary person. He must also have some kind of special power. Does he really have the power of Buddhism, or does he also have some kind of special guardian spirit?

Looking at the horse under the opponent's crotch again, Nagamasa Asai also had a vague guess that such a tall and handsome horse is extremely rare in the whole of Nippeng.

In the current Nippon, most of the war horses with outstanding heights come from the east. For example, the Kiso horses under Asai Nagamasa and others are based on the rule that the south is low and the north is high, so the origins of these samurai in front of them have gradually emerged. They were probably samurai from Echigo!

Such a warrior is worth making friends with!

Little did he know that the other party had the same idea. Not to mention that they were not ordinary people in appearance. They were not ordinary people no matter how you think about it, being able to carry the Ji Samurai and the female ninja on the road.

So Asai Nagamasa took the initiative to ride his horse forward and bowed his hands: "I am Asai Nagamasa. I wonder which samurai family you are from? You are so handsome?"

The corners of the silver-white, handsome general's mouth suddenly drew an arc, revealing a smile with unknown meaning: "Oh? Is it possible that you are the legendary Asai who defeated the evil monsters in Qingzhou City, nicknamed "The Dragon of Omi"? Young master of the family?"

His voice, like his appearance, was all neutral, even Asai Nagamasa couldn't tell his true gender.

There was also a slight commotion among the warriors behind him, and several relatively young warriors looked at Asai Nagamasa with a hint of anger and dissatisfaction in their eyes. Apparently they had all heard of the nickname Asai Nagamasa, and There seems to be quite a bit of dissent about this.

The old man with white beard and hair looked at Asai Nagamasa up and down with a scrutinizing gaze, his eyes kept flashing, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

But Asai Nagamasa was not dissatisfied because of this, he just confirmed the guess he just made.

Asai Nagamasa said very modestly: "These are all the boastful words of Lord Nobunaga. They cannot be taken completely seriously. As for dragons, I am afraid that I am not able to bear this title for the time being, but I will continue to work hard and hope that one day to make it worthy of its name.”

But to be honest, he is still very satisfied with this title. Creatures like dragons always have an extraordinary status in Eastern mythology.

However, maybe others thought he was so humble because he was just the young master of the Asai family, but only he knew that he didn't just mean this.

When he came to this world, Huang Longke still carried a drop of blood. Now that drop of blood has become a part of his body, constantly flowing in his blood vessels, and constantly absorbing the mana from Asai Nagamasa. Strengthen yourself.

Although the current progress is extremely slow, as he continues to grow and become stronger, one day, he will completely transform, and he will have the power to transform into a real dragon.
I just don't know how different Huanglong, who calls himself the "Five Spirits of Heaven" all day long, is from the local dragons in this world?
The silver-white military commander smiled again, and then he bowed his hand to Asai Nagamasa and returned the salute: "I am the governor of the Echigo Nagao family, Nagao Kagetora."

Asai Nagamasa suddenly looked surprised and excited: "Ah, so you are the legendary God of War, the Dragon of Echigo?!"

In the Warring States Period of Nippon, there was a dragon and a tiger who were mortal enemies. The tiger refers to Takeda Shingen, and the dragon refers to the long-tailed Kagetora in front of him. Both of them are famous for their excellent ability to command troops. Nippon is famous for their excellent ability to command troops. Among them, the long-tailed Kagetora is more He was called the "God of War" by the good people of later generations, but no one in Nibon has ever praised him like this.

Hearing Asai Nagamasa's praise and his high regard for Nagao Kagetora, many of the samurai behind him showed surprised expressions. The faint hostility in their eyes quickly faded away, and turned into expressions of joy and cooperation. Looks proud.

The main concern is the humiliation of the ministers, and the main concern is the honor of the nobles. This seems to be vaguely visible from them, which also shows that they are indeed sincerely loyal to Nagao Kagetora.

But Nagao Jinghu himself blushed, obviously unable to bear it: "No, no, Mr. Asai praised too much, how can Jinghu be so good, how dare he bear the name of 'Military God'?" Having said that, But he secretly felt that this title seemed to be more pleasant than "The Dragon of Echigo".
Seeing the other person blushing like this, like a beautiful jade, can be called a gentleman.

It's just that Asai Nagamasa couldn't help but want to complain. Really, I didn't expect that the famous "Echigo no Dragon" would be such a shy person. It seems that his retainers are not good at flattering him.

But good-looking people really have good-looking expressions, and they will definitely be very popular when they come to Kyoto this time.

After all, a considerable number of the ministers and nobles in Kyoto like to be masculine. Even though they are now in such a state of poverty that they can't eat enough, many of their completely useless bad habits are still preserved. Now.

After a few more polite words, Nagao Kagetora took the lead in saying goodbye, and frankly said that they were going to meet the general, and it was best not to miss the time.

Naturally, Asai Nagamasa would not stop him. After a few more polite words, under his gaze, dozens of samurai filed into Kyoto.

He knew that this was not the first time Nagao Kagetora came to Kyoto. He was probably the only daimyo left in Nippon who still adhered to giri and orthodoxy, so he had a great affection for the general. Nippon is famous.

Especially after the general Ashikaga Yoshiki confirmed his status as the leader of Echigo, he had even more reason to support the general.

Therefore, not only did he travel hundreds of miles from Vietnam to Kyoto to deliver gifts and gifts, but he also expressed his dissatisfaction with the Miyoshi family many times in public, because the Miyoshi family oppressed the general and led him to his current state of decline. It is the most fundamental and direct reason.

At the same time, another emperor, who is more of a mascot, seems to have a great affection for him for some reason. The emperor once gave Nagao Kagetora a cup of heaven, a sword, and the order to "cruel those who have ambitions towards neighboring countries". This is It undoubtedly gave him great righteousness.

Although in the chaotic Warring States period, which was full of subordinates and superiors, righteousness was not very useful in many cases, but when he also possesses strong power, righteousness will undoubtedly become a very good weapon, which will also make him a good weapon in the following years. He has the right to attack the Takeda family and the Hojo family because many of their lands were captured through war.

And when all the daimyo disdain the authority of the general, the other party can respect the general so much, whether it is out of sincerity or some kind of disguise, this all puts a special label on him, and everyone in the future will When I think of relevant things, I will think of him first.

Unfortunately, his retainers didn't seem to fully understand his behavior.

There are rumors that it seems that because he gave too many gifts to the shogun, and the expenses on the road from Echigo to Kyoto were also too much, when he told his retainers that the money had to be taxed and used by many When the retainers were dividing their money, civil strife broke out in the Nagao family.

At this time, Nagao Kagetora made a choice that no other Nippon daimyo would ever make or even think about. He actually announced his retirement and ran to the mountains alone to become a monk.

This behavior, which was like a child having a tantrum, caught everyone by surprise, and made the important officials in the family, headed by Usami Sadamitsu and Nagao Masaki, extremely anxious.

Because they all know that the reason why the Nagao family became the overlord of Echigo is entirely because of Nagao Kagetora's superb military strategy. Without him, the surrounding daimyo who are eyeing him eagerly, especially Takeda Shingen, the Tiger of Kai, would never be able to do so. Missed this opportunity.

So they joined forces to persuade some of the people who were being held hostage, and expelled the leading rebel general. They settled the civil strife on their own without using their name, and then respectfully went to invite Nagao Kagetora to come out.

At this time, Nagao Kagetora was still not satisfied. He said that you must sign a document of allegiance and send hostages to Kasugayama Castle, my home city. Otherwise, he would rather continue to become a monk in the mountains. He was really fed up with this kind of rebellious behavior.

Despite all the concerns, the matter has come to this, and many retainers can only choose to comply.

So when other daimyo were waiting to watch the excitement, Nagao Kagetora's unexpected move not only did not break up Echigo, but brought the Nagao family together like never before. It was really unbelievable, and they could only lament Nagao Kagetora. His personal charm and appeal are simply too powerful.

However, according to the information Asai Nagamasa currently has, Nagao Kagetora should have just ended the third "Kawazakajima Battle" with Takeda Shingen. As a result, he rushed to Kyoto so quickly, which is obviously extremely important. , there are even more important things to do than appeasing his subordinates and caring for the soldiers.

But those have nothing to do with Asai Nagamasa for the time being. His Asai family is far away from the Echigo Nagao family and is surrounded by mountains. There is also the Asakura family and the Kaga Ichikai clan in between. Unless they go by sea, the two families cannot reach each other. It is almost impossible to have any communication between people. No matter what Nagao Kagetora wants to do, it will not affect him in a short time.

He should go directly to Hosokawa Fujitaka. After introducing Numata Yumitsu to him, he mysteriously said at the end of the letter that he had prepared a gift for himself, and he didn't know what it was.

But no matter what, it was necessary for me to meet him. In addition to thanking him in person for recommending Numata Yumitsu to me, I also had something to ask him for help.

Because if you go to Odani Castle from Kai Town, the most convenient and quickest way is to arrive near Kyoto and then take a boat across Lake Biwa.

It would be great if Fujitaka Hosokawa could provide a large number of ships, otherwise he would have to let Shima Sakon and other samurai lead the team, let the ashigaru disguise themselves, and slowly rush to Miyabe Castle in batches. Or simply take the risk and lead the army through the Rokkaku family's territory.

The former wastes a lot of time and is full of uncertainties.

As for the latter, although in non-wartime conditions, the Rokkaku family's standing army would never be too large, after all, the marching speed of the army was far from comparable to that of him going on the road alone, and logistics and other aspects had to be considered.

Once the time delay is too long, many retainers of the Rokkaku family will definitely come to intercept them. After the Rokkaku family mobilizes all their troops, it is hard to say how many of his more than 1000 ashigaru will reach Miyabe Castle safely.

If Hosokawa Fujitaka has no choice, Asai Nagamasa can only choose to seek help from Sensoichi, Tsuda Sotatsu, or even the Agote Chamber of Commerce. I believe that with their strength, they can completely meet his requirements.

But in that case, the news would inevitably leak out, and more importantly, he would definitely owe them a favor, which was not the result he wanted.

You must know that sometimes, human kindness is much more precious than gold and silver.
(End of this chapter)