Not all the daimyo of Japan were fools, and the crusade against the Shimazu family had developed to the point where war could start at any time, and some of the most far-sighted heroes had already seen the looming shadow of the Higashi'mon Kei everywhere in this incident.

The day after the East 'Gate' Kei sent an envoy to Satsuma to ask for his guilt. Mountain pass. Ouchi family.

"These Tang Ke are simply deliberately trying to get along with the Shimazu family!" Takeren Sagara was opposed to supporting the Kitakyushu Business Alliance: "This matter was premeditated from the very beginning of the East 'Gate' celebration! The Shimazu family cut off the open sea channel of Keihuaxiang, and the East Gate Kei wanted to attack the Shimazu family, but he was worried that he couldn't fight, so he pulled us into the water! We can't fall into the trap of the East Gate! Ouchi has been at peace for a long time, so why bother getting into a war that doesn't benefit us at all for an outsider! ”

"No benefit? How I think we're all good no matter how you count it! Tao Longfang sneered! He is the main battle faction, the Ouchi family calms down, Sagara Takeren has the upper hand, the Ouchi family moves, and Tao Longfang and his fighting machines have the right to speak! For him, the Ouchi family's army has not moved for too long is the biggest damage! And he thinks that this time he should support the East Gate Qing to start a war, no matter whether the East Gate Qing wins or loses, it will be beneficial and harmless to the Ouchi family: "Qing Huaxiang is a foreigner, even if he wins, it will be impossible to occupy Satsuma - from the last time he didn't dare not withdraw from Shuijiang City!" So if he wins, things may be taken away, but the land can't be taken away! No matter how much he achieves, in the end, the city land will still fall into the hands of us Japanese! Our Ouchi family is the strongest supporter of the Kitakyushu Business Alliance, and when the time comes, Qing Huaxiang will have to discuss with us what to do with Satsuma. ”

Sagara Takeren said loudly: "But our Ouchi family and Satsuma are separated by hundreds of miles, and it is impossible to rule an enclave so far away!" ”

"We don't have to rule directly," Tao Longfang said coldly, "as long as we have the power to decide who is the ruler of this land!" ”

"Humph!" Sagara Takeren treated each other with a sneer, sneering, but it was not the expression that this old monk often had: "Then we have to defeat, I think that the rabble of the Northern Kyushu Business Alliance, going hundreds of miles south to attack the land snake of Satsuma is a victory with less and more defeat!" ”

"I also think that there are fewer wins and more defeats," Tao Longfang said with a smile: "Isn't it better if Qinghuaxiang loses?" In that case, we can gradually take over their wealth and trade routes in Kitakyushu in the name of protecting them, and even take advantage of the situation to annex Hirado and Goto! If we can take the raw silk that is continuously transported from Daming and arm the army of Yamaguchi with wealth, the Ouchi family will definitely rise again! ”

A similar argument also sounded in Shuijiang City: "If Qinghuaxiang wins, we can use their power to reach a higher level!" If Qing Huaxiang is defeated, we will take the opportunity to take over the entire 'fat' front. I expect that once the war is defeated, the Chinese merchants who assisted the East Gate Celebration will be panicked for fear of being expelled from Japan, and if we can provide them with strong help at that time, these people will definitely come to us, and as long as they are encircled, they can become shipwrights who help us transport the goods of the Ming Dynasty! ”

After the death of Takanobu's grandfather and father, his mother married Nabeshima Kiyobo in order to protect the young Takanobu, making Takoshi a cheap son of Nabeshima Kiyofu, and it is for this reason that Nabeshima Kiyobo is more loyal to the Ryuzoji family.

But at this time, Ryuzoji Takanobu did not approve of Nabeshima's strategy of clearing the house, and the two pieces of "fat" and "meat" on his face trembled, and said: "Such half-heartedness, I'm afraid it will cause a big disaster!" Those who are not strong-minded will not be able to achieve great things! ”

Nabeshima Qingfang was stunned, and suddenly felt that the young man in front of him was not as lonely and weak as he originally thought. "Yes, he is the heir of the family and the family before his death!" Nabeshima Kiyofang remembered the last words of Iekane: "The one who can prosper my dragon temple family must be the full moon!" Thinking of this, he tried to ask, "Then what does the lord mean......"

"Don't forget, Xin'an (Qingfang's son-in-law) is still with them, and I was also set up by them - we have long been tied tightly by the East 'Gate' Qing! Once Qinghuaxiang is damaged, it is difficult for us to be alone! Longzao Temple Takanobu said: "This time, I'm afraid that most families will not really help Qing Huaxiang, all of them are at both ends, but I plan to attack with all my strength and gamble hard!" In this case, once the Kitakyushu Merchant Alliance wins a great victory, not only will the Ryuzoji clan regain their prestige in this battle, but the Lord of the Higashi'mon will definitely repay our loyalty! ”

Qingfang was surprised by Longxin's decision, but still said with some concern: "But what if they fail?" ”

"It's not 'they' who lost! Now that everyone is tied together, if we lose, we are defeated! Longzao Temple Long said: "I heard that the East 'Gate' Lord also has a deep foundation in the Ming Dynasty, if we do our best this time and still unfortunately fail, then we will abandon Shuijiang City, and the He clan will retreat to the mainland with the East 'Gate' Lord, regroup there, and then make a comeback!" ”

If what he said just now just surprised Qingfang, then this remark made Qingfang feel horrified, the young man in front of him had such imagination - although it was a very dangerous imagination, but Qingfang saw a kind of rigidity from it, a temperament that brought people a sense of ***!

"That's how it should be, it's the temperament of the lord of ZTE!" Qingfang thought that as for the immaturity of the young man's thoughts, he could be forgiven, because he could make up for it with experience and prudence.

The distance between the north and south of Kyushu is not far, and soon, the envoy of the East 'Gate' Qing arrived in Satsuma, and this messenger brought not a letter of peace talks, but simply an ultimatum - to ask the Shimazu family to return the detained goods to the Kitakyushu business alliance within a limited time, otherwise they will bear the consequences!

"Haha-" Takahisa Shimazu laughed loudly at his own risk? When I was Shimazu, was it a temple house in Mizue Castle! Without even the slightest hesitation, he ordered the messenger to be removed from the city!

In this regard, Yijiin Zhonglang has a conservative opinion: "My lord, this matter is clearly a 'yin' conspiracy of the East 'Gate' celebration from beginning to end!" He's going to blackmail the wealthy clans of Kitakyushu to attack us! Aren't we falling into his full set now? ”

Shimazu Takahisa sneered and asked, "Then do you think the Ouchi family, the Ryuzoji family, and the Matsuura family, these soft eggs will sincerely help him fight?" ”

Ijiin Tadaro stopped talking, and Shimazu Takahisa laughed and said: "A group of troops who have no intention of fighting at all and just want to join in the fun, even if they get together a hundred thousand troops, it is useless!" If Dongmen Qingluo only came by himself, he might still have a few chances of winning, but with so many guys who dragged his 'legs' behind, I dare to assert that he would be defeated! ”

"What the lord said is very true!" Shimazu Hishin Sai also said: "However, we must not be rash, and we still need to be cautious when we really fight!" ”

"Father, rest assured." Shimazu Takahisa said: "Although I expected the other party to lose, I didn't want to fight him at the beginning!" We are fighting on our own soil, we have the advantage of geographical advantages, and the longer the war drags on, the better, so there is no need to worry. I want to take the defensive position first, take strict precautions, drag them to the point where they are tired, drag the wealthy clan who follows him to cause 'chaos' for him, and then give them a blow to the head, and the other army will definitely collapse! We can defeat the power of the Kitakyushu Business Alliance and dominate Kyushu in one fell swoop! Moreover, if Keihuasho is defeated, Matsuura and Ryuzoji Temple will inevitably weaken, and then I will attract other Chinese merchants and make them use Satsuma as a base, and then the fleet from the Tang Dynasty will not go to Hirado but to Kagoshima! When the time comes, our army will be rich and wealthy, and the hegemony of western Japan will be just around the corner! ”

At that moment, he ordered Kamada Masayu to build more fangzu and return the warships to the dock to avoid meaningless loss of combat power in naval battles - that was Shimazu Takahisa also knew that the water division was not the opponent of Kei Huaxiang, and sent Shinna Tadamoto to lead troops to patrol the northern border to prevent the army of the Kitakyushu Shang Alliance from landing by land or from Satsuma and 'Hi'go, and ordered Tanegashima Metoki and Tanegashima Tokiyao father and son to rectify firearms to resist Keihuaxiang's firearms advantage, and asked Shimazu Nisin Sai to personally go to Osumi to show goodwill to the liver, hoping that his brother-in-law can continue to show goodwill in this "time of crisis" Abandon preconceptions and be unanimous with the outside world.

Soon, in order to fight against the aggressive 'oppressive' North Kyushu Business Alliance, a South Kyushu Business League led by Satsuma was established.

Soldiers, the country's major affairs, ever-changing, although the current situation is formed under the impetus of the East 'Gate' celebration, but not all the situation is as he expected! Shimazu's attitude was much tougher than he expected, and the team assembled by the Matsuura family disappointed him greatly.

This time, Matsuura Takanobu did not plan to go out on his own, but only sent 500 infantry led by Yasukei Ryōda to help, but it was the 'fine' on the side of Ryuzoji Temple, and for this battle, the entire Shuijiang Castle was turned into a virtual defense, and even contributed more than half of the accumulated military food.

The wealthy families of Kitakyushu are laughing at the Ryuzoji family: "What are you doing so actively about the things that people celebrate Huaxiang!" "But Dongmen' Qing praised Longxin very much, thinking that although he is young, his decisiveness is far better than many people who think they are old and spicy!

"I built the temple of his dragon, if we are defeated, there are no eggs under the nest, what is the use of Shuijiang City even if there are still thousands of soldiers and horses? If we win, who will dare to invade the temple of the dragon? Even if Shuijiang City is occupied, we can take it back at any time with the army of Fang Sheng! Unfortunately, not everyone thinks so. ”

Among those who don't think like this, Matsuura Takanobu also includes Matsuura Takanobu, but in this situation, Matsuura Takanobu's hesitation is understandable, because even the East 'Gate' Kei himself does not have the confidence to win.

Dai Tianchou saw that the East 'Gate' Qing was worried about the 'color', and asked, "Qingguan, are you worried?" ”

"Hmm." "Matsuura's hesitation, and the hesitation of most people in the Kitakyushu Business Alliance, are actually excusable, because we have no chance of winning. ”

Dai Tianchou asked: "Do you have a chance of winning the battle before 'fat'?" ”

"Nope." Dong'men Qing said: "But we can't expect luck!" ”

"What I'm going to tell you now is not luck, it's the general trend!" Dai Tianchou said: "Don't forget, behind Ping Wuluo, there is also Lu Haice. You have married the Xie family, Wang Wufeng still has expectations for your connection with the scholars, as long as he still has expectations for you, he will not watch you fall, and he will not abandon you because you are defeated in Satsuma! So now the whole *** is not optimistic about you, but it is a good thing for you. Because if your momentum is too big, Wang Wufeng is afraid that you will threaten him, and he is afraid that he will give you small shoes to wear, but now you are worried about defeat, in order to ensure that the whole of the Chinese businessmen is not damaged, he will secretly support you, in case you are really defeated, he will most likely come out to 'support' you! ”

These few words made Dongmen' Qing say in his heart, and said: "Mr. is saying that even if I am defeated, I am not afraid?" ”

"Yes." Dai Tianqiao said: "The most important thing in provoking this 'mixed' war between China and the Chinese is to 'disrupt' the concept of national ownership of the entire Kyushu, to 'mix' the boundaries between China and China, and to make it normal for Chinese to intervene in Japan's military affairs." At this point in the development of the situation, whether or not Satsuma won or lost the first battle, it will not prevent us from promoting the peace strategy. War can change many perceptions and make things that were thought impossible before the war possible. So at this point, you don't have to think about anything else, you just have to think about how to win. ”

Dai Tianchou's words did not deal with the specific tactics of how to fight this war, but they were more important to Dongmen' Qing than any tactical contribution, because these words eliminated his worries.