Osaka Bay was as calm as water, and Zhao Jiakang on the Sakai Port dock burst into tears. He really looked like a child who had been bullied, telling his father about his grievances.
"Okay, okay, don't cry. Isn't your father here?" Zhao Hao smiled and pulled him up. He wiped Jiakang's tears with a handkerchief and looked at the fat boy kneeling behind him and said, "What is this?"
"This is father's third grandson, Chomatsumaru." Ieyasu has studied Chinese hard over the years and can now speak fluently in Ming Mandarin. Of course, don't be picky about grammar. "I just had my coming-of-age ceremony before I came here, and I've changed my name to Takechiyo. Takechiyo, why don't you kowtow to your grandfather?"
"Grandson Takechiyo kowtows to grandpa." The child had a round nose and squinting eyes, and looked as silly as a little raccoon. Upon hearing this, the little raccoon kowtowed to Zhao Hao, speaking Chinese better than his father.
"Good, this child really has a lucky face, a very lucky face!" Zhao Hao pinched his chubby cheeks lovingly.
How could he not be blessed? He was the second shogun of the future Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Hidetada, who was henpecked like a tiger.
Of course, it is still a few years before he takes the "Hide" character from Hideyoshi's name, so he is not called Hidetada yet, but "Takechiyo" like his father when he was a child.
This name is no joke, because only the heir of the Tokugawa family can be called "Takechiyo".
Zhao Hao took off his jade pendant from his waist and handed it to Takechiyo, saying:
"Everyone raises a son hoping he will be smart, but I have been misled by my intelligence all my life. I only hope that my good grandson will be simple and rude, but will become an official without any disaster or trouble."
The nine-year-old Takechiyo took the jade pendant with a silly smile and kowtowed to his grandfather.
Then Tokugawa Ieyasu met Zhao Shizhen again, but his eldest nephew did not look kindly to this cheap brother.
Ieyasu didn't take it to heart and kept talking about brothers and relatives with a smiling face, which made Zhao Shizhen unable to get angry.
"Why are you in such a hurry? Your son is only a few years old..."
"Hey, brother, I have my own reasons." Ieyasu smiled bitterly.
At this time, Sen no Rikyu also came up to pay his respects and invited the boss and his entourage to stay at the Jiangnan Garden which was built specifically for him.
~~
Jiangnan Garden is located near Sakai Port, close to Osaka Bay, and is built on an artificial hill.
The mountain is covered with lush green pines, cypresses, maples and bamboos, and pavilions and halls are scattered in an orderly manner. There is also a waterwheel that brings up clear river water from the foot of the mountain and pours it into a winding stream. The stream finally flows into a lake called "Xixin Pond". The lake water reflects like a mirror, integrating the lake light and mountain scenery into one, which is the essence of Chinese landscape painting and can also prevent fire.
Everyone sat down in Yunhai Pavilion facing the Xixin Pond. Looking down, they could see the winding bank, the quiet lake with bridges and stone lanterns, and looking up, they could see the dotted sails and the sparkling Osaka Bay. Tasting sashimi and tempura while listening to the shamisen music was a great way to relax and enjoy.
"Everyone in the company is really too generous." Zhao Hao sat cross-legged in the main seat and said with a smile to Sen no Rikyu and several directors who were allowed to sit with him.
"Last time the lord came, there was no special place for us to stay. We deserve to die." Sen no Rikyu said on behalf of the other directors: "Although the lord is magnanimous and has not blamed us, we are all worried. So we swear to build the most beautiful garden in Japan before the lord comes next time!"
"My Lord, it's fine as long as it's not too crude." The directors hurriedly said respectfully. Sakai City was able to stand out in this chaotic world and make a fortune, all thanks to the protection of the person in front of him.
Zhao Shizhen was too lazy to socialize with these businessmen. He just stared depressedly at Ieyasu and his son who were eating tempura crazily.
"Don't stop, my dear in-laws. The tempura in Sakai City is the best." Ieyasu swallowed a piece of sea bream tempura, and Takechiyo beside him nodded vigorously in agreement.
Ieyasu glared at Takechiyo again and said, "Don't just focus on eating, serve your father-in-law."
Takechiyo quickly swallowed the food in her mouth, crawled on her knees to Zhao Shizhen's table, picked up the porcelain plate of tempura, and presented it to her future father-in-law with both hands.
Seeing the fat boy with oil residue on the corner of his mouth and hiccups from choking, Zhao Shizhen was speechless for a while and said to Jiakang: "Why do you insist that my daughter marry this kid?"
"Alas, otherwise the family business of my Tokugawa family would be taken away by others..." Tokugawa Ieyasu wiped his eyes and explained to Zhao Shizhen in a low voice.
In fact, the little fat boy was the third child and was born to Ieyasu's concubine, so it was not his turn to be called "Takechiyo". However, Ieyasu's eldest son, Tokugawa Nobuyasu, was sentenced to death by Nobunaga. Although Ieyasu was forced to save Nobuyasu's life by making Zhao Hao his adoptive father under pressure from Mikawa's old ministers, he was forced to save Nobuyasu's life.
However, in order to appease Onii-chan's anger, Da Tanuki had no choice but to execute Tsukiyama-dono, whom he had long disliked, and then ordered Nobuyasu to become a monk at Koyasan.
Although Lord Nobunaga has long since disappeared, Ieyasu is "determined to carry out Onii-chan's will to the end" and is determined not to let Nobuyasu return to secular life...even if this will chill the hearts of Mikawa's old ministers and cause them to flee.
As for the second son, Hideyasu, his fate was even worse. Hideyasu's mother, Awan, was originally a maid in Tsukiyama Palace. She became pregnant after being favored by the first Ma family in the Warring States Period.
After Zhushandian found out, he was so jealous that he tortured Awan in every way. Finally, he ordered his men to strip Awan, who was pregnant, and left her in the wild to fend for herself.
Fortunately, Aman was saved by a retainer and later gave birth to Hideyasu outside. However, the ruthless raccoon did not name Hideyasu at first, nor did he intend to claim this illegitimate child. When Hideyasu was three years old, his half-brother Nobuyasu brought him into the castle. Hideyasu followed Nobuyasu's teachings and called Ieyasu "Father".
Touched by the father-son relationship, Tokugawa Ieyasu picked up Hideyasu and named him "Yuyimaru" on the spot, officially recognizing him as his own son... The reason for this name is said to be that Hideyasu's face resembled the koi "Yuyi" that Ieyasu admired.
Two years ago, after the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute, as part of the peace treaty, Yoshimaru was sent to the Toyotomi family as Hideyoshi's adopted son, and naturally he had no chance of becoming the head of the Tokugawa family.
Therefore, the third-born fat boy, Chang Song Wan, became the first choice for the next head of the family.
In fact, Ieyasu didn't like him very much, thinking that this third son was too honest. But compared with the overly strong and violent Nobuyasu, this easy-to-knead dough son is more reassuring.
Ieyasu originally wanted to wait and see. After all, besides being extremely shameless, he was also very fertile. When his sons grew up, there might be someone more suitable.
However, an unexpected situation forced Ieyasu to hastily ceremonialize Nagamatsumaru and give him his childhood nickname "Takechiyo" to confirm his status as heir.
That is, Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent a matchmaker to Hamamatsu Castle, saying that he could not bear the fact that Ieyasu was always short of money after Tsukiyama-dono's death, so he wanted to marry his sister Asahihime to him as his second wife.
~~
In Yunhai Pavilion.
Ieyasu confided his feelings to Zhao Shizhen in a low voice, and he was almost in tears when he talked about his sad parts.
"Do you know how old Asahi-hime is? She's already forty-five! He might as well just marry his mother to me!"
"How old are you?" Zhao Shizhen was a little unhappy.
"I am forty-five years old," Ieyasu replied.
"After all this fuss, it's still the same. Isn't this a perfect match?" Zhao Shizhen rolled his eyes.
"How can that be the same? We are men!" Ieyasu said matter-of-factly, "No matter what age, I am only interested in girls between 14 and 28 years old!"
After saying this, I realized that Zhao Shizhen's face looked a little unhappy, and Ieyasu suddenly remembered that A-shi was also 41 years old. Isn't this like calling a monk a bald man? He hurriedly said, "Of course, a great beauty like your wife, who only appears once in three thousand years, is not restricted by age."
"Haha..." Zhao Shizhen's expression brightened up a little.
"But Lord Hideyoshi's nickname when he was young was Monkey. Some people also said that he looked like a mouse. Do you think his sister can be like a human being?"
Zhao Shizhen looked at Jiakang, who looked like a big raccoon, and couldn't help but shake his head slightly. This man was really like a crow laughing at a pig - he only saw the blackness of others but not his own blackness.
"She was first married to a farmer in Owari, and then when Lord Hideyoshi became rich, he married her several times. Now he wants that village woman to be my principal wife again." Ieyasu said with regret on his face, "If I had known this would happen, I would have remarried a long time ago. Alas, I shouldn't have just coveted the happiness of a bachelor..."
"What does that have to do with your son's marriage?!" Zhao Shizhen finally couldn't help but interrupt him.
"How can it be okay?" Ieyasu blinked his big round eyes and said, "If Princess Asahi becomes my principal wife, even though she is already so old, with my strong fertility, I will definitely be able to make her pregnant, and she will definitely give birth to a son."
He lowered his voice and whispered in Zhao Shizhen's ear: "Only if we decide on the successor before she gives birth to a legitimate son, will our Tokugawa family not be taken away by that lowly monkey in the future!"
"Didn't you give him your nickname?" Zhao Shizhen looked at the innocent-looking little raccoon with a confused look.
"That's useless. Lord Hideyoshi said he would send his mother, Oimasu, to me as well..." Ieyasu said dejectedly, "This is to force me to be a vassal. The successor of a vassal is decided by the lord at his word, and he can be replaced at will."
"Good fellow!" Zhao Shizhen finally changed his expression and said, "You are really willing to invest so much! From now on, he will have to call you dad..."
"Uh..." Ieyasu was stunned, then he said with a smile: "The Great Prime Minister is already over seventy years old. He was sent here as a hostage, not for my mother and I to take in together."
Speaking of the mother and daughter being adopted together, Zhao Shizhen blushed slightly and quickly changed the subject, "It seems that you are moved by his sincerity?"
"What sincerity? I do lack maternal love, but I am not interested in taking care of someone else's mother." Tokugawa Ieyasu said depressedly, "But Lord Hideyoshi has already done this. If I, Ieyasu, don't know what's good for me. If he continues to attack me, even my retainers will think that I have brought this upon myself."
"You can't win the fight, so you can only become our vassal?" Zhao Shizhen suddenly realized.
"I haven't made up my mind yet, I have to consult my father first." Ieyasu shook his head and said, "But I must first determine the successor to prevent any more trouble.
"That monkey is using Lord Nobunaga's name. If he can make Takechiyo and Lord Nobunaga's niece marry each other, he will have no way to depose him." He looked eagerly at Zhao Hao who was chatting and laughing with Sen no Rikyu and others.
"More importantly, Ajiang's maiden family is our Zhao family! No matter how arrogant Lord Hideyoshi is, he would not dare to offend father!"
ps. This time the truth is going smoothly, I shouldn't get stuck again. That's it for tonight, I'm going to the hospital early tomorrow morning, I have to go to bed early, and try to come back early to write...