Winter has arrived.

Hirate Tsunoshi woke up groggily from a nap, and as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the scene of snow outside the window and the cold wind howling.

There is also a very vague but difficult to ignore figure.

"What time is it?" Fan Xiu sat up lazily, reached out and pushed the futon away, and asked casually.

"Before you had three quarters, you only slept for half an hour after lunch." He was answered by a familiar female voice. Jing Yi Zhihu stepped forward and handed over the cotton clothes, and said with concern on his face: "Your Highness, let's rest more, I had a fever yesterday!" Now you must pay attention to keeping warm. ”

"I can't help this little thing." Pingshou sat on the bed, took the cotton clothes and draped them, shook his head and didn't care: "Don't make a big fuss, there were many injuries and illnesses that were a hundred times heavier than this when the army marched and fought back then." ”

"But now you have the eyes of the world on your back." Jing Yi Naohu was still like a great enemy, while asking the maid to quickly bring hot soup and tea, and on the other hand, asking the servant to bring two more stoves, and added: "Especially at this time, nearly 200,000 tired divisions are gathered in the wind and snow, and any small things will be magnified, in case any rumors appear, it is not impossible for the armies to mutiny...... The position of a concubine may not be suitable to talk about this, but I have to say that the prestige of the young master may not be enough to suppress the scene. ”

"Hmm...... Makes sense......" Hirata Tsunoi sighed, frowned and thought about it, and immediately remembered the matter: "What about today's report?" I said that it is necessary to keep abreast of the logistics and morale of the army. ”

"As soon as you woke up, you ordered someone to notify you, and you should be there immediately." When Jing Yi Naohu replied, he was already holding a bowl of steaming soup that smelled of medicine and came over: "Your Highness, please use it." ”

Heishou Toshihide nodded and took it, but he didn't drink it first, looked at the seemingly absent figure in the distance outside the window, and suddenly asked, "Is the Hojo clan still waiting outside in the wind and snow?" ”

"Yes." Naohu also looked at the past with his gaze and responded: "He and the Hojo clan pleaded at the door early in the morning, and they didn't say anything but knelt down and kept kowtowing. ”

"That's it......" Hirashou Fan Xiu rubbed his forehead, as if he had a headache about this matter, and then fell into thought again. It wasn't until Yoshimitsu came to greet him, and then Honda Masanobu, Konishi Yukinaga, Maeda Genyi, Nagashu Masake, Baixiang Ieka, Yamauchi Katoyo and others arrived one after another, that they put aside their thoughts for the time being and focused on military affairs.

……

It was the 14th day of December in the third year of Tensho (1578). After half a month of continuous cloudy and sunny changes, God finally came to a big one, and a goose-feather blizzard fell, dyeing the entire Kanto region white.

This caused great trouble for the hundreds of thousands of soldiers stationed in and around Odawara Castle.

A large amount of winter clothes and firewood were prepared in advance, and distributed to their own guards and flag teams in a timely manner, which can provide basic protection.

But those soldiers who are subordinate to the outside may be very sad.

It's not a lack of supplies, it's a matter of control. In both Kansai and Kanto, most of the daimyo still built their armies through the traditional conscription system, and there was no administrative or logistical system at all, so it took a lot of effort to distribute winter clothes and firewood to each soldier.

The Hojo Army faced a catastrophe. Odawara Castle said that he had long been prepared to stick to it for a long time, but in fact, the upper limit of psychological expectations was about nine months.

It is the limitations of time and geography that lead to cognitive biases.

Now, not to mention warm clothes and firewood, even food is gradually insufficient.

The stubbornness of the Hojo clan is more stubborn than everyone imagined, and he still wants to delay in this job and refuses to accept his fate. But the low-level soldiers and low-ranking samurai finally couldn't bear it anymore and began a large-scale mutiny and defection. Some of the hundreds or even thousands of fully formed troops went out of the city and surrendered, and some officers brought their subordinates to fight with friendly troops in order to compete for limited supplies.

Even the widow of Shiyasu, the mother of Shizheng, the sister of Imagawa Yoshimoto, and the nunnery where the "Imperial Style" monk practiced were patronized by bold thieves, almost endangering the old lady's life.

Eighty-six years old, Hojo Phantom An, who had also shaved his hair and entered the Buddhist gate, hurried to the temple gate with a naginata, and loudly reprimanded the rebels, whose awe-inspiring posture made people dare not invade. But on the second day, the old man fainted from exhaustion and fell to the ground, and then he could not open his eyes again.

At this point, no matter how tough the main battle faction was, it finally couldn't stand anymore, and the Hojo clan almost obtained the permission of the clan in a half-forced and half-pleading manner, and hastily took Suzuki Hidemoto and Asahina Nobuei out of the city to the Hijo Hideki tent, and agreed to all the conditions without much dispute.

This is the end of the protracted crusade.

On the other front, the Hojo clan also gave up hope and followed the order to surrender Kaejo.

Tens of thousands of soldiers in the city, most of them semi-professional peasants, arranged to lay down their arms and go home. The responsibility should not be borne by them.

Moreover, now the coalition forces themselves, except for the tie team, are almost demoralized, the morale of the army is broken, and the embarrassed state can no longer cope with tens of thousands of prisoners, in case it provokes the resistance of the surrendered troops, it will be a bad thing.

Whether such a large number of people who are accustomed to begging for a living with swords will be able to honestly stay in the fields for the rest of their lives is a worrying question. However, the world's problems can never be solved, so leave it to be dealt with later.

At the same time, the daimyo in Nishigoku, Shikoku,, Hokuriku, Tokai, and Kanto also received permission from their respective families, and within a few days, their armies retreated one after another, leaving the already poisoned Sagami and Musashi regions. Then each family left the head of the house himself or some other representative of sufficient weight, waiting to listen to the next arrangement.

Hite-hode made a relatively merciful decision, and except for the fact that he had to take the life of the Hojo clan, everyone else showed a negotiable attitude.

Originally, he was going to be escorted to Kyoto to be beheaded, and he was sentenced to a canonical punishment.

As a result, when he walked to Kokokuji Castle in the territory of Suruga, Hirate Honhide suddenly fell ill with cold and developed a high fever, and the whole army was shaken by this and had to stop for a short rest.

Over the past year, Hojo Clan's approach has been seen in the eyes of everyone, and basically no one thinks that he is worthy of sympathy. Tokugawa and Takeda, who have a certain relationship, have no intention of helping to intercede, not to mention old enemies such as Uesugi and Satake, who are afraid that he will die early.

But his brother and son could not be willing to watch their loved ones' heads cut off and hung on the outskirts of Kyoto.

The Hojo clan and the Hojo clan were the only two of the Hojo clan who did not restrict their freedom, and when they arrived at Kokokuji Castle, they knelt outside in the wind and snow all day, begging to raise their noble hands.

……

After listening to the reports of his retainers, he was relieved to learn that his military situation was still good. After thinking for a while, he left Yoshimitsu by his side and let the others go about their business, and then ordered the people who were kneeling outside to come in.

After a while, several servants in thick cotton clothes helped two warriors who were only dressed in Wu clothes and were frozen stiff to enter.

The young and strong Hojo clan was fine, trembling and trembling, but he was still able to reluctantly bend down and salute, saying, "Thank you for the grace of the Inner Palace." ”

The Hojo clan of his uncle's generation is in his thirties and his health has always been bad, and his face is already a little purple at the moment, and he collapses on the ground and can't spit out half a word.

I don't know how I insisted on kneeling in the wind and snow for several hours just now.

Human willpower is terrifying.

Leaning on the stove and pouring some hot tea soup, it was finally relieved, and the Hojo clan was unharmed in an instant, and the Hojo clan gradually came back to his senses.

Only then did Hiteshu speak: "I have learned the sincerity of the two, but the matter has come to this point, and it is really difficult for a strong man to save the life of Sagami (Hojo Clan). Even if I agree, the ministers of the DPRK and China, the princes of all parties, and the generals of the family may also have opinions. ”

"How dare you! How dare you! The Hojo clan immediately put aside the porcelain bowl in his hand, knelt on the ground and mourned: "Today, the contemptible people can still see the light of day, and it is already the extrajudicial grace of the inner government, where can they still want to keep the family strict?" It's just that...... Just ......"

"I beg the inner government to allow him to apologize for his sins, and the contemptible people are willing to confess his mistakes." Hojo added weakly.

"Yes." Hojo buried his head deep in the ground: "Iegashi is indeed a sinful and unforgivable, and capital crimes are inevitable, but he has begun to repent deeply, please allow him to die as a samurai." ”

"Hmm......" Hijo snorted, noncommittal.

Decapitation and seppuku are both deaths, but there is a great difference for the samurai of Fuso. It is not only about the honor of the deceased himself, but also about the face of the family and future generations.

Before, Hijo didn't make it clear which plan to take, but the tone and posture of "I will definitely take his life" made people feel that he would definitely be executed, and he would not be allowed to commit suicide.

In fact, as the soul of a traverser, there is no special persistence.

But today's events gave him a new inspiration.

After a moment of pretending to think about it, Pingshou Fanxiu opened his eyes and raised his head and said: "Originally, according to my thoughts, I had to be beheaded, so that it was enough to announce the world and let the world know the rules." However, for the sake of the two of you 'Chengmen Lixue', I will make an exception again and be a little more lenient, and if Sagami (Hojo Clan) really has a deep sense of repentance, let him retain the last dignity of a samurai. Now allow you to see him once and see if you really know what you have done wrong! ”

As soon as these words came out, the Hojo clan hurriedly kowtowed to thank him, and the Hojo clan also struggled to salute.

Pingshou Fan Xiu coughed twice and waved his hand to order the visitor to leave.

Yoshimitsu beside him sighed: "Hou Hojo has lived in Kanto for nearly a hundred years, and there is indeed no shortage of loyal and good ministers, but it is only the last head of the family who can't see the overall situation clearly, so he buried the foundation." ”

"Yes!" Fan Xiu nodded violently: "I heard someone say that, that's right!" ”