There is a saying that newborn calves are not afraid of tigers, and this is absolutely true. The difference is that some calves are fearless because they don't know anything, while others know everything and are not afraid.

Ishida Mitsunari belongs to the type who knows everything but is still not afraid. He was born in 1560 and is only twenty-two years old this year, not yet twenty-three. Eight years ago, he was favored by Hideyoshi because of the "three offerings of tea", and he was able to stand near Hideyoshi.

The so-called "three offerings of tea" is a rather interesting allusion. In 1574, Hashiba Hideyoshi was the lord of Nagahama Castle; Ishida Mitsunari was fifteen years old and was working as a novice at a temple outside Nagahama Castle.

One day, Hideyoshi was out hunting and was thirsty, so he ran to this temple to drink tea.

Ishida Mitsunari served a large bowl of herbal tea first, and Hideyoshi drank it all.

Mitsunari took another half bowl of slightly warm tea, and Hideyoshi also drank it in a big gulp.

Then Mitsunari offered a small bowl of hotter tea, and Hideyoshi drank it again.

After drinking, Hideyoshi asked Mitsunari why he offered tea like this.

Sancheng replied: "Because the adults are tired and thirsty, this first cup of tea is used to quench their thirst, so they use a large bowl of herbal tea; The second cup was because the adults were basically no longer thirsty, so they served a little warm tea; In the end, when the adult's heart is calm and the mouth is not thirsty, the hot tea will be served again, and the adult will savor the taste."

The abbot was shocked and rebuked Mitsunari for being rude, but Hideyoshi recognized Mitsunari's wisdom and bearing, believing that he could perceive his intentions and his words and deeds were in line with his own wishes, so Mitsunari left the temple on the same day, returned to the world, and became Hideyoshi's attendant.

And in the next twenty-five years, Ishida Mitsunari rose to prominence during the crusade against the Shibata Katsu family, and made great contributions to the Shimazu clan in Kyushu, the Hojo clan in Odawara, and the Date clan in Oshu, and became Hideyoshi's most relied on confidant!

After Hideyoshi's death, because Hideyoshi's son Hideyoshi was an Adou-style "outstanding youth", the Toyosei family really had no successor, and the nominally unified Toei faced division again!

At this time, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who had been dormant for decades, suddenly burst out and led the Eastern Coalition Army as the Eastern Army to launch a decisive battle invitation to the forces left behind by Toyosei Hideyoshi! And as a loyal defender of Hideyoshi's forces, Ishida Mitsunari, as the de facto leader of the Western Army, fought a decisive battle with Tokugawa Ieyasu on the opportunity of the Battle of Sekigahara!

But unfortunately, the Toyosei family, which Ishida Mitsunari defended, stood by at this time, and Ishida Mitsunari was finally defeated and captured, refused to surrender in order to defend his name, and was beheaded in Rokujo Kawara. He was forty-one years old.

This also announced the end of the Toyonari clan's short-lived unification of Toei - and the Toyosei family, who stood by and watched, were replaced by Tokugawa Ieyasu shortly after the defeat and death of Ishida Mitsunari, and the Tokugawa shogunate was established and ruled Toei until the modern era of the Shogunate Movement.

Historically, Ishida Mitsunari has a very distinct personality, with good and evil being clear and undisguised. There is wisdom, means, courage, and loyalty, but it lacks some luck and forbearance. In general, he is an out-and-out gentleman, a true tragic hero!

At this time, Ishida Mitsunari was just a close confidant of Yushiba Hideyoshi, and his official position was only an inferior civil official from the seventh rank. In the face of a family boss like Kuroda Kanwei, he made a generous statement, but it aroused the disgust of Kuroda Kanwei.

Kuroda looked at Ishida Mitsunari, frowned and said unhappily, "When will Ishida be able to participate in such a meeting?" ”

Yushiba Hidecho smiled: "This is licensed by my brother. Sancheng is a young man and an old man, and he has the demeanor of a general, and his brother only increases his experience. Sancheng, you still have to listen more! To put it bluntly, it is to play a round, and I also warned Ishida Mitsunari not to talk too much.

Who knew that Ishida Mitsunari smiled and said: "It's just that I'm loyal to the Lord, so I just spoke." Now that Lord Heitian has made up his mind, he won't say anything more about it. ”

Although this was said politely, it was actually a deep expression of his dissatisfaction. Kuroda Kanbei was a little annoyed - not because of Ishida Mitsunari's words, but because of Hashiba Hideyoshi's attitude.

As a leader, his attitude at this time directly shows how much he attaches importance to his subordinates. Even Yushiba Hidecho saw his dissatisfaction and played a round out loud, but as the leader, Yushiba Hideyoshi was silent, watching himself and Ishida Mitsunari bickering with interest, which fully shows that the importance of the Lord to this young man is actually no longer below him!

Suddenly, Kuroda Kanbei had a trace of interest in Ishida Mitsunari, not disgusted, but an interest in outstanding juniors - this is also the embodiment of Kuroda Kanwei's own quality and wisdom, his biggest characteristic is that he is good at observing the situation and taking advantage of the situation.

So Kuroda Kanbei said with a smile: "The Lord convened the military council, and I hope that everyone will speak freely. Since Ishida has an idea, it is better to talk about it openly, so that everyone can refer to it! ”

The attitude of the front and back turned 180 degrees, which surprised a room of people, only Yushiba Hideyoshi was already fanning with a smile.

Ishida Mitsunari is a cool person, and when he saw Kuroda Kanbei say this, he also said unceremoniously: "Then I'll talk!" I think, as Kuroda said, the behind-the-scenes owner of the Blade Sea Chamber of Commerce from the Ming Dynasty is the root of this series of problems! ”

As he spoke, he ordered someone to unfold the map of Dongying on the table, and pointed to it with his finger: "This person's surname is Sun, his name is Qilan, and he is not yet twenty years old, but he is already the commander of the three deputy capitals of the Ming Dynasty!" ”

As soon as these words came out, the room suddenly gasped. Hashiba Hideyoshi, as the person with the highest call for unification in the world, is only an official from the third at this time, how did this twenty-year-old young man do it?

Ishida Mitsunari continued, "Your Excellency must have doubts about this person's identity. After verification, there is no problem with the identity. This Sun Qilan is the righteous grandson of Zhang Juzhenggong, the former first assistant of the Ming Dynasty, who was born two years ago. At that time, he was a grass farmer, with a white body. Because the Tatars fought with the Ming army in Guangning, the general of the Ming army, Qi Jiguang, appreciated Sun Qilan and boldly enabled it, and this person was extremely resourceful and brave, and broke the Tatars many times in two years! ”

As he spoke, he pointed his finger at the northeast region of the Ming Dynasty and said: "In the first half of this year, as one of the commanders, he completely destroyed the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Tatars and Jurchens here, and the army he led at that time was only one-third of the opponent's!" ”

There was another exclamation in the room! Yushiba Hideyoshi said: "I have also heard of this battle!" Although this son is young, he is really another rising star in the Ming Dynasty after Qi Jiguang and Li Chengliang. ”

Yushiba Hideyoshi's words undoubtedly insured Ishida Mitsunari. Everyone listened more intently to Ishida Mitsunari speak.

Sancheng continued: "Later, because Zhang Juzheng, the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty, was critically ill, the court of the Ming Dynasty began to fight fiercely. As a last resort, he absconded from the Ming Dynasty and went to sea to come to Dongying. ”

Kuroda Kanbei nodded and said, "Sansei's information is very accurate!" According to my investigation, two years ago, he set out to establish a commercial and trade force in Dongying, mainly in ocean trade, I don't know if he had a plan or another reason. ”

At this time, when Kuroda Kanbei spoke, it seemed that he had regarded Ishida Mitsunari as a person who could talk to him on an equal footing, but in fact, he still had more of an attitude of testing Yu Sansei.

Ishida Mitsunari shook his head and said, "I don't know about this. But when it comes to why he colluded with Shibata Katsuie, I made some new discoveries. ”

Yuchai Hideyoshi frowned and said, "You haven't talked about this matter, let's talk about it quickly!" ”

Ishida Mitsunari said in a deep voice: "I got the news a few days ago - according to the report of our spies who broke into the Shibata Katsu family, the main reason why Sun Qilan was hostile to our army was because his father, whose name is unknown, was injured by the looting of the Kumano Navy during the sea trade!" I don't know whether this is true or not, but judging from his attitude and methods, it seems that it should be the real situation. ”

Kuroda Kanbei nodded slightly: "I see!" No wonder it was the Kumano Naval Army that suffered first! ”

Ishida Mitsunari glanced at Kuroda Kanei, and continued: "But at present, he has clearly shifted his hatred to our army as a whole, and it can be seen from his alliance with Shibata Katsuie to provide him with support in all aspects and eliminate potential hidden dangers, he is not satisfied with a temporary blow to the Kumano Water Army, but wants to fully support Shibata Katsuya and break with our army!" ”

Hideyoshi Hashiba asked, "His chamber of commerce stronghold, I remember being in Sakai Port?" ”

Ishida Mitsunari nodded, shook his head again, and said, "It was true that they were in Sakai Port before, but not long ago, they have relocated their main bases to Hakata and Edo, and it is said that they have recently established a new base in Kagoshima!" What remains in Sakai Port is only a small department of residual business, and it is useless to take it! ”

Maeda Xuanyi suddenly interjected: "I don't know about other aspects of this blade sea chamber, but the trader has a very good set. "He's in charge of business, so he knows it very well.

Seeing everyone looking at him, Maeda Xuanyi continued: "Since the establishment of the Blade Sea Chamber of Commerce two years ago, it was just a small chamber of commerce that rented a façade, but relying on its relationship with the Ming Dynasty and vigorously carrying out tributary trade, in just two years, the amount of taxes paid has increased by more than forty-seven times!" Even in Sakai Port, where trade is huge, it is one of the largest chambers of commerce! ”

Ishida Mitsunari shook his head and said, "Maeda-sama only knows one thing, but he doesn't know the other. According to my investigation, in addition to the superficial trade - that is, the tax payment, the bulk trade of the Blade Sea Chamber of Commerce mainly comes from the smuggling of arms and jewelry, and the share of these goods is nearly double that of normal trade! ”

Kuroda Kanbei continued: "And it is understood that this Sun Qilan has a group of capable people who have made achievements in the navy, iron artillery, and intelligence!" Sun Qilan himself is a master of martial arts, and he studied under Lin Qi Shisuke, and he is undoubtedly a master of Ju Confluence. ”

A young man who has not yet reached the age of twenty has been able to achieve great achievements in so many aspects, and at this time it has become a stumbling block to his own military situation, and everyone attending the meeting is concerned.

Bee Suga Xiaoliu said disapprerovitically: "Why don't you entrust the Miscellaneous Crowd and erase it soon?" ”

Ishida Mitsunari said categorically: "Absolutely not! ”

Bee Suga Xiaoliu frowned and said angrily: "Why not? It's just a Ming Dynasty official who has lost power! Are we afraid of him? ”

Ishida Mitsunari said in a deep voice: "It is speculated that this person is extremely good at assassination and counter-assassination!" In the Ming Dynasty, he played with the brocade guard many times. A few days ago, he had a duel with Shiyao on Tanegashima and Shiyao on Tanegashima, and in the actual battle, he defeated Shiyao Hall with a musket! ”

This sentence is like a hammer smashing into everyone's hearts. Tanegashima Shiyao, that is the number one originator of the Dongying Iron Cannon, even he was defeated, and the others are afraid that they are not qualified to reach out!

And the iron cannon is the assassination artifact of the current Tianzi No. 1! It seems unwise to offend such a person!

Yushiba Hidecho asked, "Since this person is so difficult, how should we get along with him?" ”

Ishida Mitsunari and Kuroda Kanbei glanced at each other, and almost said in unison: "Huairou!" ”

At this point, Yushiba Hideyoshi's military discussion has the only and final consensus.

Hideyoshi Hashiba finally decided that Kuroda Kanbei would take the lead, supplemented by Hidecho Hashiba and Koroku Beesuka, to calm down the blows in various places, at least to hold back the momentum. In the past, Tian Xuan thought it was the main one, and Ishida San became the assistant, and went to Hakata to meet Sun Qilan!