It took a quarter of an hour of hard work, and after hesitating for a long time, the head of Chozong and my department finally made up his mind and generously accepted the order to "crusade against the Otomo family".

Everything was expected in a draw.

A truly brave and outstanding person will not see this kind of task as a dangerous road, but only as a great opportunity to show his talents.

If Oda Nobunaga had been in such an environment, I am afraid that he would have made up his mind without hesitation.

And the head of the Nagamune Ibu only gave an affirmative answer after hesitating for a quarter of an hour, so in comparison, although the Himeruko of Tosa can also be called "heroic", it has not reached the level of "excellence".

It is for this reason that Hirate believes that he is a falcon that can be tamed, not an uncontrollable tiger.

If the mind and strength reach the level of a tiger, then no matter what, you can only kill it in advance to prevent future troubles.

……

Today's Kitakyushu Otomo family, with the inner castle of Bungo Province as the core, has a vast territory, fertile fields, and benefits from sea trade, fishing and salt, and is a behemoth entrenched in the six countries. Although it has been in a period of decline since the defeat at the Battle of Imayama, it still maintains a scale of more than one million koku, and can recruit an army of 50,000 at any time, and is still the first class of power in the world.

And Tosa's Nagamune Ibu Yuanqin, the ultimate mobilization power is only eight or nine thousand. Taking into account the supply problem of cross-sea operations, even fewer can actually reach the front line. Even if Kawada Naga and his relatives integrated the forces of the four countries to provide assistance in all aspects, the final available combat power would probably not be more than 10,000.

Attacking 50,000 with 10,000 sounds like a crazy thing.

And it's not always possible to find any particular allies to rely on.

Kansai's Mori Terumoto was too young, and since he succeeded to the throne, he has been under the aura of his grandfather and two uncles, and it seems that it is very difficult to deal with the harassment of the remnants of the Niko Party and the disputes of the people in the country. In view of the mediocre record of the Mori family in Kitakyushu in the past, even if he obtained the righteous name of the shogunate through the exchange of interests, he was not favored.

During the two years following Mori Moto's death, the Mori family did not have time to invade Kitakyushu directly, so they changed to support Chikuzen's powerful countryman Akizuki Tanami to contain the Otomo family. With the support of Mori, Tanemi Akizuki maintained a high degree of military and financial independence, but he did not yet have the courage to openly confront the Otomo family.

On the other hand, Hizen's Kumlong Tsukuji Takanobu, even though he had won a big victory with less in the Battle of Imayama, after all, the capital was only half of Hizen, and he couldn't take advantage of the victory to advance proudly, but signed a peace treaty with the Otomo family to divide the sphere of influence, and then focused on making a fortune in a muffled voice and accumulating strength in a low-key manner.

As for the Shimazu family in southern Kyushu, it has not yet reached the time of real rise, and their power is currently limited to Satsuma and Osumi, and even Osumi has not yet been completely unified. Ito Yoshisuke of Hyuga Country is in the state of a semi-subordinate and half-ally of the Otomo family, and Shimazu and Ito are fighting fiercely and have their own victories and defeats, and it seems that it will be difficult to say who will kill the deer for a while.

In short, it is a difficult word.

However, no matter how difficult it is, Tieshou Fan Xiu does not intend to speak easily, since he has full authority to hand over this matter to the head of the Changzong and my department, he simply does not interfere at all, and see how far he can go.

However, the head relatives of Chomune's department could not be so relaxed, but were very nervous, and made a careful request to Hirate Hoshu on the spot, saying: "As you said, Lord Crime, Ryuzoji Temple and Akizuki have accumulated strength in Hizen and Chikuzen, but the Otomo family has not been able to effectively stop it, and Shimazu attacked Hinata Ito, and the Otomo family did not send troops to help defend it. It can be seen that the city must be in a situation where government decrees are not implemented and management is chaotic...... But if someone can't get in the middle and persuade the heroes of all parties to fight together, I'm afraid that the weakness of the Otomo family will not be easy to show. I am afraid that this task is not something that can be accomplished by a contemptible person. ”

Hearing this, Pingshou Fanxiu nodded in agreement: "Yes, go to the army to plan, and then fight the enemy, this is indeed what you should think of before you start the army." Most of the forces in Kyushu respect the Caodong Sect, and the relationship between the Caodong Sect and the Rinzai Sect has always been quite good. In this case, I asked the senior monk of the Rinzai sect, Tiger Zai Soyi, to be an intermediary, and sent Honda Masanosin as a lobbyist to try it everywhere. However, the Maori family probably does this kind of thing, and even if they are willing to participate in the alliance, they are not sure which alliance leader they will recognize. ”

Nagamune Ibu Motomo said: "I'm afraid that the anti-Otomo forces in Kitakyushu are all related to the Mori clan, but the Shimazu family in southern Kyushu, at least in terms of geographical distance, should be closer to us. Therefore, I believe that we should first condemn the Ito clan, who is a wing of the Otomo family, in the name of the shogunate's righteousness, and take this as an opportunity to conspire with the Shimazu family to take Hyuga as the top. If you take Bungo directly, I am afraid that it will trigger the enemy's full resistance, and it will be cheaper for the Maori family. ”

Hisho waved his hand as if unintentionally, "You can decide for yourself." By the way, there is one thing that I can't tell you, Ichijo Gonaka Nayan (Kaneda) has escaped from Kyoto and gone to the inner castle of Bungo Kunifu, probably hoping to use the power of the Otomo family to plot a recovery, which may serve as a pretext for you to unite the people of Tosa and Minami Iyo Province. ”

The head of the Changzong and my department hurriedly bowed down and said, "Thank you for your advice!" In fact, there is another thing I don't understand, I want to ask your old man to solve the puzzle - to say, I always thought that Otomo Kingo (Otomo Sorin's current Saemon Governor) was a famous general with both wisdom and bravery, and single-handedly created the foundation of the six countries of Kitakyushu, and today I listened to your explanation to know that it is no longer what it used to be, and I don't know ......"

Hearing this, Tieshou Honxiu laughed: "Otomo Jingo was indeed heroic and energetic back then, and today he has fallen to this point, which is indeed a creation and a trick." Do you know that the Bungo Kingdom, the city of Funai, is one of the important entrances for the Southern Barbarians to land in Fuso? ”

The head of the Changzong and my department nodded and said, "I have heard of it." I heard that the trade with the Nanban was extremely profitable, and it was possible to obtain firearms—of course, the firearms obtained by the Otomo family were not comparable to those of the Punishment Department. ”

Hijo shook his head and said, "Otomo Jingo is more than that. He had too close contacts with the Nanban, and even believed in the teachings of Chezhidan, and gradually abandoned the worship of gods and Buddhas. I don't know how his materialistic and feminine personality managed to get along with other people. In short, most of the central ministers of the Otomo family also changed their beliefs because of this, but the powerful local retainers still revered the gods and Buddhas, so there was a division. ”

The head of the Changzong clan suddenly said: "I see! No matter what kind of sect it is, I should let my disciples and followers use it for me, so why bother with doctrinal differences? Otomo Kongo didn't understand this truth, it seems that his strength is still a step worse after all. Perhaps it is because I can't overcome the temptation of materialism and beauty that I hope to be supported from the side. ”

Hearing this, Tieshou Tsusho smiled and said: "Then please trouble you to catch this guy who is a little bit worse and catch Kyoto to apologize!" ”

……

After only staying for two days, and after a brief exchange with the head relatives of Chosō and Ibu, Heite continued westward to visit Kawada Nagakin, who was sitting in Nakamura Castle.

On the basis of the ruins of the Ichijo and Utsunomiya families, and in the capacity of "the queen of the Ichijo family," Kawada Naga succeeded in winning over and subduing the wealthy families of the two counties of Hata and Kita, mastering 60,000 or 70,000 stone of land, and establishing a small force that could not be ignored although it was loose.

And almost no troops and money were consumed, purely by pulling the banner of the "Tie Punishment Department" to bluff people.

Now that it has the name of "South China Sea Exploration", it is only right that Kawada Nagakin, as a "famous representative", is in charge of various affairs on Shikoku Island.

Of course, the Kono family in Kita-Iyo is backed by Takakei Kobayakawa, and the corners of the people's walls are not so easy to dig for the time being. And the Xiyuan Temple Gongguang, who has mastered Yuhe County, is also imminent, with an ambiguous attitude and is not easy to deal with.

In Kawada's report, it is written: "The young lord of the Kono clan is in power, thanks to the support of Maori, so there is no need to worry. Xiyuan Temple is both civil and military, and has a strategy, and it is between my family and the Maori clan, and it does not leak. In order to seek an independent status, it is the biggest hidden danger in Iyo Province and even on the island of Shikoku. ”

This kind of traditional local force that goes against the trend of history, resists centralization, and is bent on becoming the king of the rich mountain is really difficult to deal with, and there is no other way to deal with it except to completely eradicate it. However, on the intertwined island of Shikoku, the use of force must always have a name acceptable to the public, otherwise it will greatly damage the prestige that has been accumulated so hard.

By sending envoys to exchange envoys, Hinote reached a wordless tacit agreement with Mori Terumoto - you recognize my duty as a "South China Sea Explorer", and I also recognize your sphere of influence in Iyo. Out of this tacit understanding, for the time being, I don't plan to make arrangements for the Xiyuan Temple Gongguang, but just keep it in mind and wait for the autumn to settle the account.

However, the problems of Awa and Sanuki can be well diagnosed and treated.

Through repeated conquest of Shinohara Nagabo, and subsequent intervention in sectarian struggles, a total of three troops, the draw has almost beaten all the wealthy families of these two countries one by one more than once, which can be said to be a terrifying existence. Moreover, there are no other major forces in these two countries that can intervene, and it can be regarded as a hall of words.

It just so happened that it was already more than half of December, and considering the attitude problem, Hirate decided to return to Awaji directly to reunite with his family and celebrate the New Year together.

Those wealthy people of Awa and Sanuki, let them have a good year.

When the announcement was made, hundreds of people, including guards, attendants, handymen, and sailors, rejoiced and celebrated with the whole world. These poor people have braved the cold winter, the wind, frost, rain and snow to work hard until now, and it is really hard. Whether it is in the cabin, the ox cart or the sedan chair, the adults of the criminal department can sit with the hand warmer produced by the "Yuyue House", while the soldiers can only wear two more coats and hold them hard.

When it comes to the extra allowance of 500 to 2 times for each person according to their position and rank, the atmosphere is even more enthusiastic.

。 m.