Awaji country, state main city.

Although there was no fighting for the time being, in order to deal with the turmoil in nearby Izumi, the Hirate family issued instructions to prepare for war. There were 300 pro-soldiers, 1,500 banner soldiers, plus the thousands of people and forces and outsiders gathered by Lala, a total of more than 5,000 people. And these soldiers attracted many small merchants to set up temporary shops under the city, and for a time this small city became bustling and full of people.

In the midst of this noise, Hirate Honshu did not appear in the military tent in armor as before, but wore a loose Wu costume and sat in the courtyard of Honmaru.

Holding a sunspot in his right hand, he stared at the chessboard in front of him for a long time, but he never found a satisfactory drop. hesitated for a long time, and finally turned into a sigh that was still unfinished.

originally thought that he could eat the opponent's chess pieces in one fell swoop and gain an advantage of nearly twenty meshes, but the opponent's response was unexpected, involving another battle. Under the influence of the overall situation, there are only a few advantages left.

There are several advantages in the middle game, and if you count the head of chess, the advantage is still not small. It's just that he lacks the sense of accomplishment of killing the enemy to the point of losing his armor, and there is a gap from his previous expectations.

The chess skills of Tie Tsuhide are sparse and ordinary, far inferior to Yumitsu Numata, Masanobu Honda, Nagaqin Kawada, Yumi Iwanari and others here. In the past, when I occasionally played against these retainers, I could win every time, but the number of wins was always very small, and the reason for this was unknown to anyone.

It's a shame that we can win, but we can't always win in a good way.

This is exactly what happened in the current Hequan country.

On the surface, he relinquished the right to know and act in the country, but secretly sat back and even promoted the occurrence of turmoil, and then brought in the famous Kii Saga Party.

As for the reaction of the shogunate, it was mostly expected.

From the perspective of a bystander, Ise Sadako's measures were very correct, not to care about the minutiae, nor to rush to hold accountable, but to grasp the core problem, first go to the enemy camp alone to stabilize the situation, solve the symptoms, and then build momentum to ask the tie to clean up the situation and solve the root cause.

A discerning person can see that since the decline of the Miyoshi family, Heite Honhide is the only one who has established a stable ruling foundation in Izumi, and now that he is gone, his influence is still there, and the stability and chaos of this land are absolutely inseparable from him.

Of course, Hijo Honhide was also happy about this, and was ready to push the boat down the river, choose a suitable time, and cooperate with Ise Sadako's actions to take over the real power of Izumi again.

It's just that when they contacted each other, they accidentally got a message that it was another retainer of the shogunate, Isshiki Fujinaga, who had also asked Ying to claim to solve the problem, but suddenly said that he was sick and didn't know where he went.

In line with the attitude of being cautious and taking precautions, Hirate Hasuhide ordered Nakamura Kazuji, Ishikawa Goemon and others to investigate, and was surprised to find that Isshiki Fujinaga actually secretly went to Nagahara Castle in Kurita-gun, Omi Province, and visited Sakuma Nobumori!

Originally, Heide Honhide also thought that the shogunate might send direct troops to crusade, or seek the help of Yamato Matsunaga, Kawachi Miyoshi, Hatakeyama, Tanba Hatano, Akai, Settsu Ikeda, and other wealthy clans. For these follow-ups, we have been mentally prepared.

It's just that I didn't expect to suddenly jump out of such a person as Isshiki Fujinaga and hook up with another important minister of the Oda family.

The name Nobumori Sakuma made Hitetsu like a great enemy. That's why I delayed all actions, lying in the courtyard of Honmaru, pretending to play chess leisurely.

……

After thinking about it for a long time, he couldn't figure out where to fall, so he simply didn't think about it, threw the chess pieces in his hand back into the chessboard, and then leaned back on the pavilion pillar, showing a lazy truce posture.

It is a common thing in the chess world to suspend the game and continue it when there is time in the future. However, everyone here is not a professional player, and once you leave the chess table, most of them will not continue, which is a pity for enthusiasts who are keen on this way.

However, the lord is all interested, can the retainers still use it, what opinions can they not have? I can only follow the looks.

Hijo closed his eyes, was quiet for a moment, and suddenly opened his eyes again, muttering to himself: "Sakuma's people, if they are fighting as enemies, it is not enough; But as an ally, it is intimidating. ”

As soon as these words came out, Yumitsu Numata, who was cleaning up the mess, was frightened, and the chess pieces in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter, splashing and spilling.

When I looked up again, I saw that Kawada Naga and Honda Masanobu looked as usual, and the new retainer Iwanari Yudo did not have a different color, and showed an expression of "it should be so", and Hattori Hideyasu, who was standing on the side, looked around as if he had not heard of it.

So Numata Yumitsu suddenly found that among these people, it seems that he is the only one, not the inner circle. The above sentence cannot be passed on to outsiders, but when I hear it in my ears, it is both terrifying and admirable.

The sigh of the tie is only half understood by everyone here. Sakuma Nobumori, although he is good at military formations and is familiar with all aspects of foreign affairs and affairs, is not at the top level, and in people's hearts, he is far inferior to the rare wisdom general, so it is no problem to say that "if you fight as an enemy, it is not enough". But where does the phrase "but as a friendly army, fearful" come from? Sakuma Nobumori does like the wind of infighting, but not to the point of being intimidating, right?

All in all, unless there is another time-traveler who comes to this world, no one will be able to understand this exclamation.

Then Kawada Nagajin added in a very serious tone: "If it weren't for the foil of friendly forces, how could you let the people of know that your lord is benevolent?" ”

Kawada is not a flatterer, and what he says is naturally not all unfounded boasting.

Sakuma Nobumori likes to force the wealthy families under his rule to ruin the family, needless to mention, Shibata Katsuya's Yori and appearance have always had the highest death rate, Takigawa Kazuki values talents but will look down on and even humiliate incompetent people, Mori Kecheng is serious and follows the law to the point of being unkind, Niwa Nagahide is relatively better, but it can't catch up with the tie Tosu. The "differentiated development" of the Chinese people is fully encouraged, and those who are enterprising can recommend themselves to be civilian and military generals, and those who are not very ambitious can also concentrate on being rice worms, which is deeply welcomed and loved by the masses.

To this, Honda Masanobu responded in a strange manner: "This may also be Sakuma-sama's greatest advantage. No matter how big the territory he controls, Oda Hall never needs to worry. Perhaps in the heart of the Oda Palace, he would have preferred to see Lord Sakuma sitting in the country of Izumi. ”

This "ugly truth" made Pingshou Fuxiu frown. But since it is the truth, it cannot be dismissed because it is unpleasant.

Numata Yumitsu also wanted to say something, but he couldn't think of any valuable speech for a while, so he continued to pack up the chessboard aggrievedly. Intrigue is indeed not his forte.

There was silence for a while, but it was Iwanari Yutong who spoke: "Although I don't know much about the habits of this Sakuma-sama, I think that as an outsider who lacks the foundation of connections, if he wants to meddle in the affairs of Izumi, the only way is to 'fight against the army'. If Sakuma-sama is really as decisive as Your Highness expected, I am afraid that he has already sent elite troops and is quietly on the way. ”

Hearing this, Numata Yumitsu subconsciously retorted: "However, the deacon of the shogunate's government office, Lord Ise Sadako, has already gone there in person to mediate, so what is Sakuma's reason for sending troops?" ”

The corners of Iwanari Yutsu's mouth twitched, as if he looked down on the other party's intelligence, but he still explained in the same tone: "The Ise formation went to Izumi to mediate, but Isshiki Fujinaga went to Omi to seek Sakuma's assistance, which shows that the two have different political views. Now it is only necessary to sneak up on the past, kill the army of the temple and the shrine, and then claim that Ise Sadako is only here to deliberately show weakness and paralyze the enemy, and the explanation of the matter will be in the hands of Isshiki Fujinaga and Sakuma Nobumori. ”

When the words landed, before Numata Yumitsu could react, Honda Masanobu said again: "If Lord Ise Sadako unfortunately dies in the chaos, then Ichishiki Fujinaga will probably be even happier." Once Sakuma's army enters Izumi, I'm afraid it will be difficult for the main family to intervene. Let alone...... The Oda Hall was not reluctant to see such a situation. Even the matter of Isshiki Fujinaga colluding with Sakuma Nobumori was originally instructed by the Oda Palace, and it is not known. ”

Listening to this terrifying and bold speculation, Pingshou Fanxiu's face did not change at all, as if it was all expected, but he shook his head slightly and asked, "What is your best plan?" ”

Honda Masanobu hesitated for a while and didn't answer immediately, and Kawada Changqin next to him immediately spoke: "I think I can set up two strategies for emergency and emergency. Slow Ce is to sit back and watch Sakuma enter Izumi, waiting for his mistake to cause anger from all sides; The urgent strategy was to preempt Sakuma, march into Izumi in the name of supporting the shogunate, and crusade against the lawless temples. ”

Kawada's words show his aversion to trickery, and the so-called "two strategies" are all in the hope of using yang schemes to solve the problem.

Honda Masanobu immediately had a disapproving look on his face, but he didn't say anything.

However, Iwanari Tomoto made a gesture that did not understand the world, and retorted directly: "I'm afraid what Kawada-sama said is inappropriate, the slow policy is too slow, and the urgent policy is too urgent. ”

As soon as these words came out, no matter how calm Kawada Changqin was, he couldn't help but have a look on his face and annoyance in his eyes. And Iwanari Friendship is still a reckless character, just as if he didn't see it.

Honda Masanshin then came out again and said, "Sending troops to fight is the right way, but it will lose people's hearts. However, if he pushes himself and others, Sakuma-sama has no foundation in Izumi, and now he is so straightforward to lead the army to kill, can he really gain a firm foothold in Izumi? ”

Iwanari Tomotsu replied in a thick voice: "I don't think Sakuma is a fool, and naturally I know that he can't actually control Izumi, and I'm afraid that most of the reason for coming here this time is to make some trouble for the Hirate family." ”

Yumitsu Numata, who had been hanging up, seemed to wake up suddenly, and Fuzhi interjected in his heart: "What if Sakuma-sama-sama is keen to make trouble for the Heite family...... So in the Oda family, isn't there anyone who wants to make trouble for Sakuma-sama? ”

When the words landed, Tieshou Fan Xiu suddenly stood up, and his eyes lit up.