After a day of gathering, we set off for Komaki Mountain Castle to participate in the evaluation meeting. However, Akihei Akihei has been haunted since he met Mori Shinsuke that time. He always felt as if he was missing something important, and he didn't know what it was. Ikeda and Maeda Toshiie sensed that something was wrong with Yu Qiuhei, but they didn't know what was wrong with him.

After the important ministers of the Oda family arrived at Komakiyama, the evaluation meeting began in earnest. According to the usual practice, Takigawa Kazuki still reported to everyone at the beginning of the meeting that the important information in the world had been in the world recently. There are two pieces of information that have attracted Yu Qiuping's attention.

The first one, naturally, is the news of the Imagawa family, and it is also the news that makes Yu Qiuping worried.

After Asahina Taiheng slashed Ii Naomori and Ii Naokina, the relationship between many wealthy families in Yuanjiang and the Imagawa family became more and more tense. The Asahina family, who had long been wary of the Yuanjiang wealthy clan, sent heavy troops to various key areas to guard against possible movements of the Yuanjiang wealthy clan. In such a tense situation, the mind of the city lord of Yinma City, Fan Wei Lianlong, came alive. He accepted Matsudaira Ieyasu's mediation and announced that he would break away from the Imagawa family and join the Matsudaira family.

Imagawa Shinya reacted quickly and ordered the Asahina family to immediately go to quell the rebellion. The brothers Asahina Taichao and Asahina Taiheng were also unambiguous, and on the night of the second night of the Ibi-Renlong rebellion, they attacked the castle and surrounded it. On the third day, the outer castle of Inuma Castle was also captured by the Asahina family. Due to the rapid development of the offensive, the Matsudaira family did not have time to send people to support, and Iio Renlong had to sue for peace in humiliation and send his wife and children to Kakegawa Castle as hostages. The Imagawa clan really wanted to kill them all, but Shou Guini insisted on making concessions and letting Iio Renlong continue to serve as the lord of Yinma Castle.

After hearing the news, Yu Qiuping sighed helplessly. His short three years in the Imagawa family do not seem to have affected the development of the Michi-Imagawa family. They still gradually lost the hearts and minds of the people in Yuanjiang in the 60s, and the wealthy families of Yuanjiang rebelled one after another, and the Imagawa family also consumed the little strength left in the rebellion again and again.

The second piece of news came from, and it was the news that made Yu Qiuping depressed - every time he heard that the Miyoshi family had made any major progress, he would be so angry that he would regret why he had to talk so much about what he predicted.

In October last year, Yoshiharu Rokkaku, the governor of the Rokkaku family, murdered the three Goto Kentoshi father and son, who had always been at odds with him. Goto Kentoyo has always been an important retainer of the Rokkaku family, and he is very prestigious throughout Minami-Omi, and his death immediately aroused the indignation of the Minami-Omi wealthy family. For a time, the Nagata family, the Mikami family, the Ikeda family, the Shinto family, the Hirai family and other wealthy families rebelled one after another and besieged Kannonji Castle. Seeing that the situation was not good, the father and son of Rokkaku Yoshiken and Rokkaku Yoshiharu hurriedly fled to the territory of the Gamo family to ask for asylum. Under the mediation of the Gamo family, the rebellious wealthy families ceased their military activities and returned to the Rokkaku family. However, as a condition, a large number of territories directly under the jurisdiction of the Hexagon family were divided by the wealthy clans, and while the Hexagonal family lost face, its strength was also greatly weakened, and it was almost difficult to control the wealthy clans under its command.

When they learned that their old rivals, the Rokkaku family, had no time to take care of him because of civil strife, the Miyoshi family also quickly took action. And their target is the Settsu country. The Setzu family was nominally under the rule of the Miyoshi family, but the Ikeda family, who were the guardians of the Setzu country, had a lot of strength, which made the Miyoshi family quite jealous. In the history of Akihei's previous life, when Oda Nobunaga invaded Kyoto, the Ikeda family and many small wealthy clans in Settsu Province did not resist with the Miyoshi family, but quickly surrendered to Oda Nobunaga, causing the Miyoshi family's defense line to quickly collapse.

And this time, the Miyoshi family just wants to take action and completely bring Settsu Province under their control.

·

Time back to last fall, Ikeda Castle in Settsu Province.

"Thank you for your concern," said Ikeda Nagamasa, the head of the Ikeda family, who was lying on his sickbed and sitting outside through the curtain. "I've been sick for a long time, and my life is short, so I can't get up and salute, and I hope Your Highness won't blame me." Because he was terminally ill, and even his voice was already very weak, even if Miyoshi Yoshi-hyun sat so close to him, he had to listen hard to barely hear the slight voice.

"It's okay, His Highness Ikeda doesn't have to be so polite." Miyoshi Yixian smiled and waved his hand, signaling a few of his attendants to retreat, "I have some important matters and want to talk to His Highness, I wonder if I can make it convenient?" ”

"No problem, no problem," Ikeda coughed twice, then waved his attendant to step back. When the last few attendants went out, they also closed the door with their backhands.

"I don't know Your Highness, what is the important thing to discuss?" Ikeda asked in a low voice when he saw everyone pushing down.

"Naturally, it's about the aftermath of His Highness." Miyoshi Yixian lowered his voice and said: "I am so blunt, I hope Your Highness will not be too unlucky." ”

"It's okay," Ikeda Nagamasa coughed twice more, "Our martial arts family is no better than that minister, so naturally we won't shy away from death, Your Highness, please speak up." ”

"I'm here for the sake of the heirs of the Ikeda family." Yoshiken Miyoshi said this casually, but his eyes never took off Ikeda's facial expression. After seeing the latter obviously stunned for a moment, he smiled with satisfaction.

"I'm relieved to hear that His Highness Ikeda hasn't yet appointed an heir," Miyoshi added with a smile and in a low voice, "I'm here to help." ”

When Ikeda heard this, he froze in place. Indeed, he was hesitant about who would be the heir. Katsumasa Ikeda, the eldest son of the Ikeda family, was supposed to be the natural heir, but Ikeda Katsumasa himself was not outstanding, he was a bit stubborn, and his relationship with his retainers was not very good. What worries Ikeda Nagamasa the most is that the only retainer who has a good relationship with Ikeda Katsumasa is the ambitious and powerful faction of the Ikeda family, Araki Murashige, the lord of Arioka Castle.

The second son, Tomomasa Ikeda, was well-read and intelligent from an early age, and was favored by the Ikeda 21 people, who were an important member of the Ikeda family's retainers, and Ikeda also maintained a good relationship with the Miyoshi family.

Ikeda Nagamasa was hesitant between the two men, not knowing who to appoint as his heir, so he has not yet decided who will succeed the family governor. Unexpectedly, Miyoshi Yixian actually came to the door.

"This—" Ikeda coughed, his mind racing. Whoever the two children pass on, the Ikeda family's business is likely to be in jeopardy. Passing the throne to Katsumasa Ikeda, Araki Murashige will not let go of the opportunity. If the throne is passed on to Ikeda, it is very likely that the Miyoshi family will seize power from the Ikeda family. And Miyoshi Yoshiken came this time, obviously to support Ikeda Tomomasa. If the position is passed to Shengzheng, the whole family may only be left behind. But if the throne is passed on to Chimasa, the Miyoshi family will definitely not let go of this opportunity to annex the Ikeda family!

"This—" Ikeda coughed violently, making a quick mental trade-off. After all, Katsumasa's child is still the eldest son," Ikeda said in a low voice, "and he should inherit the family governor." But that child's ability is limited, and I hope that the main family can help me more. ”

"Oh?" Miyoshi Yixian got up slowly and sneered: "What did Your Highness say?" I didn't hear clearly. ”

"Huh?" Ikeda Nagamasa was stunned for a moment, "Below... Lisheng is the heir..."

"Ah, so you want to make Master Chimasa-sama your heir," Miyoshi nodded with satisfaction, "I also think it's a good suggestion." Then please rest assured, after your 100th year, the Miyoshi family will definitely bring more Zhizheng. ”

"Down... Your Highness? Ikeda Nagamasa was completely stunned, and watched in amazement as Yoshiken Miyoshi opened his eyes and said nonsense, saying that he wanted to make his second son his heir. Just as he was about to open his mouth to refute, he suddenly felt a panache in his chest and coughed violently. He's been sick for so long, but he's never been so uncomfortable. He seemed to suddenly understand something, and looked at Nagamasa Ikeda, who was standing in front of his bed, with an expression of disbelief.

"That's right, there are my people among your servants," Yoshiken Miyoshi sneered, looking at Ikeda Nagamasa with a look of pity, "This morning, he poisoned your medicine, and you won't survive this noon." ”

"And I will stay here until you die," Miyoshi Yoshiken lowered his voice and calmly recounted, as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him: "When you die, I will announce it to the outside world, and you will last entrust the edict of the orphan to pass on the position of family governor to Lord Zhizheng." ”

"You—" Ikeda's eyes were red at the moment, and he tried to shout as hard as he could, calling the guards outside the door in. But when the roar reached his throat, it turned into a few faint moans and a sharp pain in his chest. People on the outside, they can't hear at all.

"I'm lonely... How can you not find a retainer of your cronies..."Ikeda Nagamasa whispered intermittently, making a final struggle, "People won't believe it... I won't let you get away with it... There will be a rebellion. ”

"That's nature, if it were me, I wouldn't believe it." Miyoshi Yixian nodded as he should, "I'm just giving the people who support the second son's faction a legitimate reason to seize power, and the eldest son's faction will definitely not believe it, but will rise up to resist, and even the two factions will fight each other." ”

"But—" Yoshiken Miyoshi dragged out his tone and slowly paced to Ikeda's bedside, looking down at Ikeda Nagamasa condescendingly, "a fight between the two sides is what the Miyoshi family wants to see the most, isn't it?" Wouldn't it be beautiful that the Ikeda family was consumed by infighting, and the Miyoshi family took over Settsu on the grounds of supporting their second son and stabilizing the situation? ”

As soon as Miyoshi Yoshiken's words fell, Ikeda Nagamasa understood Miyoshi Yoshiken's plan, and he trembled with anger, and his whole body trembled violently.

"You... This despicable villain... Murdered His Highness Hosokawa before... Now it's me again..."Ikeda Nagamasa almost used all his strength, gritting his back molars and letting out a final curse: "You are worthy of the name of the three good four brothers... Come to a sticky end! ”

"Well, you're right." A wry smile suddenly appeared on Miyoshi Yoshixian's face.

"Three good and four brothers, three do big things, and one does dirty things."

"The one who does the dirty thing will not die well. Just to pave the way to the world for brothers. ”

·

As Miyoshi had predicted, when he announced that Ikeda Nagamasa's edict was to support Ikeda Chimasa, the Ikeda Katsumasa faction immediately expressed dissatisfaction. Araki Murashige even threatened that it was Yoshiken Miyoshi who murdered Ikeda Nagamasa when he met with the old lord that day. He then raised troops at Arioka Castle and contacted many people who supported Ikeda Katsumasa, as well as other important families in Settsu, such as the Itami family and the Ibaraki family, and supported Ikeda Katsumasa to succeed him and rebelled against Ikeda Tomomasa. The Ikeda family was divided into two factions and fought fiercely.

The Miyoshi family then marched into Settsu on the pretext of carrying out Ikeda Nagamasa's last order and mediating the Ikeda family's civil unrest. Miyoshi Yoshixing and Miyoshi led the army of Kawachi Province, and Miyoshi Yoshiken led the army of Izumi Province and entered Settsu from the east and south. Although Miyoshi Chokei himself stayed in Shikoku, he sent Tokawa Ichiku and Ataku Fuyasu to Settsu, and approached Hanakuma Castle in Settsu Province by sea. Arakimura saw the disparity in strength, and immediately counterattacked, betraying Katsumasa Ikeda, other retainers of the Ikeda family, and the Itami family who had contacted him, and obtained the territory of his territory.

Under the attack of the Miyoshi family and the Araki family, the coalition army was crushed and forced to surrender to Ikeda Chimasa, and the Ikeda family was also greatly damaged by the civil war. After the war was put down, the Miyoshi family did not withdraw its troops from the occupied castle of Settsu Province, but instead installed people in the upper echelons of the Ikeda family, replacing the rebellious retainers and emptying Ikeda Tomomasa. Although the Ikeda family was dissatisfied, they were helpless at the moment, and the Setzu family fell into the control of the Miyoshi family.