On January 10, after obtaining permission from Oda Nobunaga, Akihei Rain officially began trading with the Miyoshi family. The Yuqiu family and the Miyoshi family successively withdrew their troops along the Yamato River. Yu Qiuping retreated into Shiki County, and the Miyoshi family retreated into Takaya Castle. After the end of the standoff, Yu Qiuping successively released more than 1,700 prisoners of war from the Miyoshi family.

In the meantime, there have been a few hiccups as well. The Honganji family, who did not have a friendly relationship with the Miyoshi family, tried to interfere with the negotiations by giving Yu Qiuping a large amount of money and food in exchange for Yu Qiuping to hand over the prisoners of war to Ishiyama Gobo. The conditions offered by the Honganji family can be said to be very generous, but Yu Qiuping rejected the Honganji family on the grounds that "he has already agreed". For a time, once again praised Akihei's good reputation of "doing what he says".

On January 15, Yu Qiuhei led the troops of two companies of Miyoshi Yoshiken and Tokiwabi along the north bank of the Yamato River all the way west and arrived at Kitawazumi. Here, as the representative of the handover, Shihe Yicun handed over the document of the territory of Kitawazumi Otori County to Yuqiuping. Then, Yu Qiuping sent reconnaissance cavalry to determine that there was no Miyoshi army stationed in each of the rock castles in Otori County, and then released Miyoshi Yoshiken, and then led the army to occupy the entire county of Otori County, including Sakai Town.

"It's finally getting through." Fukushima Yasunari, who was following Yu Qiuping's side, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the general trend had been decided, "I have been walking on the tip of the knife every day for the past few months, and I finally don't have to worry about it anymore." ”

"An Cheng, that's how much you think." Yu Qiuping smiled bitterly when he heard this, "The troublesome thing is only going to start now." ”

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What Yu Qiuping said is good, and the troublesome things are really one after another.

First of all, Yu Qiuping's overstretched troop strength problem. The Yu Thu family is now in Hanoi, Hoa Quan's territory, resembling a giant letter "J". The 150,000 koku territory of Kawachi Province north of the Yamato River is a vertical part, and the 40,000 koku territory of Otori-gun north of Izumi Province is the hook to the left of "J". The northernmost part of Otori Prefecture is almost the same as the northern shore of the Yamato River.

Such a territory, which is spread out like a long snake, really needs a lot of troops to defend. To the north of the territory is the Settsu family of the Miyoshi family, to the west is the Honganji family, which has a good relationship for the time being, to the east is the Matsunaga family across the Kongo Mountains, and to the south is still the domain of the Miyoshi family. It can be said that there is no safe hinterland at all in Yuqiuping's territory, and there are fronts bordering the enemy everywhere.

Since it was almost time for spring ploughing, many ashigaru in Akechi Mitsuhide and Kinoshita Hideyoshi's team were in a hurry to go back to farming, and Yu Qiuping could only arrange for them to go back.

And more than half of the 2,000 soldiers on hand in Yu Qiuping are newly trained auxiliaries, and they are not very experienced in combat. Yu Qiuping's previous training method was that a veteran led a new soldier. It is obviously unrealistic to expect these recruits to bring "new" recruits, and Yu Qiuping has no chance to expand the army for the time being. Therefore, he could only personally lead Ogawa Yuto's infantry company and cavalry company to sit in Maple Leaf Mountain Castle, let Fukushima Yasunari and Gozensaki Nakahide's company stay in Otori-gun and Sakai Town, and then let Charles and Yoshioka Katsumasa's company sit in several ferries on the north bank of the Yamato River to strictly guard against the Miyoshi army in Takaya Castle. In addition to these three key points, the defense of other places can only rely on the small wealthy clans to deal with themselves.

After Miyoshi Yoshiken was released, he led the Awa people back to Awa by boat to rest. At this moment, the troops of the Miyoshi family left in Hanoi and Izumi include 4,000 people from Miyoshi Yoshiyo Yoshiko stationed in Kishiwada Castle, and more than 7,000 people from Miyoshi Nagayi and Miyoshi Masaysu stationed in Takaya Castle, plus more than 7,000 people from the rest of Iwanari Youtong, and they have almost a 2:1 advantage over the Yuqiu family's soldiers in terms of numbers. The 2,000 soldiers of the Yuqiu family are all standing soldiers, and they do not need to be disbanded when farming. However, the troops of the Miyoshi family had to go to the fields to cultivate during the spring ploughing period, and they were temporarily unable to attack Yuqiuping during the busy farming period, which gave him a chance to breathe.

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Another trouble was on Oda Nobunaga's side.

Due to the continuous major progress made by the Yuqiu family in Hanoi and Izumi, Yuqiu Pingguang already has nearly 200,000 koku territory in Hanoi and Izumi, and counting his old collar in Ono, the total collar is as high as 260,000 koku, far exceeding all the important ministers in the Oda family. Shibata Katsuie, Sakuma Nobumori and others were very dissatisfied with this, and repeatedly protested to Oda Nobunaga, and Oda Nobunaga himself did not seem to be willing to sit idly by and watch the Akihei family dominate. According to the news from Maeda Toshiie, Ikeda Tsuneko, and several other good buddies, it seems that Oda Nobunaga wants to take back the old domain of Yuakihei in the Ono region and instead grant him the possession of Hanoi and Izumi. In this way, the territory of the Yuqiu family will be about 190,000 koku, which is about the same as the number of territories of important ministers such as Shibata Katsuie, Sakuma Nobumori, and Niwa Nagahide.

Yu Qiuhei didn't care about Oda Nobunaga confiscating his territory - he was already too powerful, and it was reasonable to restrain him. But there was one big problem that bothered him, and that was Sumamata Castle. The castle tower of Sumata Castle was filled with a large amount of gunpowder, and although outsiders could not see the flaw, many people knew the news. In the past, Momata City was controlled by Yu Qiuping himself, so outsiders naturally had no way of knowing. But seeing that Sumamata Castle is about to be transferred to someone else, things are not good. Although the people who knew about the gunpowder incident had already followed Yuakihei to, it was difficult to tell the rest of the Oda family. However, if the news leaks out, the lord of Sumata Castle sends someone to dig up the castle tower, and the gunpowder inside the castle tower will be discovered immediately. If it really comes to that time, Yu Qiuping will be speechless.

Yu Qiuping hurriedly consulted with his think tank on this, and finally reluctantly came up with a compromise proposal. In a place east of Sumamata Castle with better transportation locations, build a new castle larger than Sumamata Castle, move all the inhabitants of Sumamata Castle there, and abandon Sumamata Castle. In this way, the new lord probably won't pay too much attention to the sparsely populated Sumamata Castle. Although it cost a lot to build the castle, Yu Qiuping had no choice but to order Naoe Tadahei to start construction immediately and repair the castle before Oda Nobunaga's order to confiscate the territory arrived.

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And the biggest problem in front of Yu Qiuping is that he must now fulfill his promise to the merchants of Sakai Town, Ishiyama Town, and Hatakeyama Takamasa.

After Yu Qiupei's resounding victory and the negotiation of control of Sakai Town, the merchants of Sakai Town were bittersweet. The good news is that the Yuqiu family has won, and they have the opportunity to establish that parliament. The worry is that I don't know if Yu Qiuping will fulfill his promise, after all, the system he envisioned before is too fanciful, and no one has ever been willing to give businessmen similar to the power of the Joint Council of Important Ministers. If the army of Yuqiupei came to Sakai Town and forced them to obey, they would probably be helpless at the moment, so they could only draw water in bamboo baskets.

As a result, the merchants of Sakai Town and Ishiyama Town tacitly stopped the delivery of grain and goods to Yuakihei at the same time after Yuqiuhei's victory over the Miyoshi family. Yu Qiuping's current stock of grain can only last for about eight days, and he does not support his attack on Sakai Town, and the food of the two companies of Fukushima Yasunari and Mimasaki Nakahide is already stretched thin.

And Hatakeyama Takamasa also expressed deep doubts about whether Yu Qiuping would fulfill his promise. At his request, the Hao clan of North Hanoi did not disband their troops for a long time, posing a huge threat to the security of the territory of Yu Thu Binh.

Yu Qiuping understands that their fears are indeed justified, and any cooperation is carried out under the premise that the two sides can check and balance. Right now, Yu Qiuping's Chang Panbei has an overwhelming military advantage over them, so they don't dare to cooperate safely at all. So one can no longer deliver food, and the other can wait for the day to beware of the rain and autumn to break the contract. Yu Qiuping also knew what they were waiting for, they were waiting for Yu Qiuping to send his two sons over as hostages.

Although the hard-liners Amano Keitoku and Sanada Masayuki suggested that Yu Qiuping simply send troops to capture Sakai Town, seize enough grain and grass and baggage, and then return to the division to destroy the small wealthy clan in North Hanoi, Yu Qiuping did not intend to take such a risk. If it fails, the Miyoshi family will make a comeback, and he will have nothing left.

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On January 22, in the castle tower of Maple Leaf Mountain Castle, Yu Qiuhei and Kaede Imagawa were packing up for their two children. After the New Year, the two of them are both 10 years old. In Japan, it's time to do your duty for your family.

At the entrance of the castle town of Maple Leaf Mountain Castle, the Sakai merchants and the chauffeurs sent by Hatakeyama Takamasa were already waiting. The carefree time of these two children by their parents' side is about to come to an end.

Although it was good when he agreed, but when it was time to part, Yu Qiuyou couldn't help wiping his tears. He was already trying to restrain himself, but the cry still leaked out of his mouth, and the expression on his face was a little strange. When Kaede Imagawa thought of the child who had been protected in the palm of his hand since he was a child, he was about to be wronged and hostage in the hands of others, and tears couldn't stop rolling in his eyes.

"You'er, You'er, and Feng'er, I'm sorry for you." Yu Qiuping looked at his wife and children crying, and his heart couldn't stop throbbing, "If I could be stronger, I wouldn't need to ask for help, and I wouldn't need to sacrifice the two of you." ”

"Dad, I don't blame you, I don't blame your dad." Yu Qiuyou whimpered and looked at Yu Qiuping, "Master Amano told me about the situation at that time, and we were at the end of our ropes. If Dad hadn't come up with such a clever trick, so many people in Maple Mountain City might have starved to death. You'er is proud to be able to share a little for her father. ”

"You'er..."Yu Qiuping touched Yu Qiuyou's little head with tears, and then patted him on the shoulder heavily, "Take care of yourself." ”

"You're too." Yu Qiuping then looked at Yu Qiuping again, looking at his empty sleeves. When I arrived in an unfamiliar environment, I was surrounded by people from Hatakeyama High Mashiro, and I would definitely not take care of Yuqiu like I did in Yuqiu's home. It is estimated that there will be no less gossip, ridicule and dislike, and the situation that Yu Qiuyou will face will be much more difficult for Yu Qiuyou.

"I will, father." Yu Qiuping opened his mouth, but for the first time, he used a formal name like "father" to call Yu Qiuping, which made Yu Qiuping and Imagawa Kaede stunned.

"Not everyone has the opportunity to be a hostage, and not every heir can contribute to the family at such a young age." In Yu Qiuyan's eyes, although there is also reluctance and sadness, but more is eager to try and expect, "This is another new experience in my unique life, isn't it?" Father! ”

After listening to Yu Qiuping's words, the reluctance to leave seemed to be completely overshadowed by the joy brought by Yu Qiuping's growth. He took a step forward, bent down slightly, patted Yu Qiuyan's shoulder with both hands, and said excitedly:

"What a son he is!"

Yu Qiuyan looked back at his father excitedly, but he didn't notice the jealousy and unwillingness in his eyes of his younger brother standing beside him.