"Momiji, you mean to... Will we use our rations to give to these people? Sena asked, frowning, lost in thought.

"Your Highness, that's exactly what I mean..."Yu Qiuping also said with some hesitation, "Anyway, there is no shortage of military rations in Narumi City, isn't it..."

"Boy, you're not crazy, are you!" Asahina Taehyung didn't wait for Sena Shijun to speak, and shouted first: "This is all precious military food, you actually took it to the people of the Oda family?" ”

"The people are the people, and they are not divided into the Oda family or the Imagawa family." Yu Qiuping shook his head, "After so many years of troubled times, it is the people who suffer. The people of these villages were also devastated by the war because of our two families, and it is our two family's obligation to help them. ”

"Then you can't use military rations to give you relief!" Said Taehyung Asahina.

"Then we don't necessarily have to watch thousands of people starve to death in these villages!" Yu Qiuping said without showing weakness.

"Then why didn't the Oda family help? The Oda family robbed them of all their grain, and we went to deliver it instead? Stretching out his hand to Hina, "Then after we finish delivering the grain, the Oda family will change hands and take it all." Or when we sent someone to help, the Oda family sent troops and robbed us. Isn't it just sending food to the enemy? The people are not still starving to death. ”

"That's a problem..."Yu Qiuping sighed and pondered.

"Maybe we can negotiate with the Oda family!" Yu Qiuping suddenly thought of a way, "Didn't we surround Zenshoji Temple, and captured more than fifty prisoners, we can negotiate terms with the Oda family, if they don't interfere with our relief, and promise not to take back food from the people, we will break the siege and send all the prisoners back..."

Before Yu Qiuping finished speaking, Asahina Taehyung jumped up in a hurry, "Boy, are you confused?" We send food to their people, and then we give them back to relieve the siege, and we are sick! ”

"But you don't necessarily see more than a thousand people starving to death!" Yu Qiuping also felt a little unreasonable, and his emotions were a little excited.

"You two stop arguing." Sena Shijun suddenly spoke, "I'll think about this matter again, and I'll decide after lunch." ”

"What? Uncle, you still have to think about it! Asahina Taehyung didn't believe his ears anymore, "Aren't you two crazy?" Do you still have to do this kind of thing that doesn't make money? ”

"Virtuous nephew." Sena Shijun was not angry, "You think about the joints inside, if you can't figure it out, I'll explain it to you in the afternoon." ”

After eating, Sena immediately summoned all the officers above the rank of Ashigaru to the main camp for an evaluation meeting.

"After my careful consideration," Sena said directly, "I think that the same plan of the general is to negotiate the return of the captives and the relief of the siege of Zenshoji Temple, so that the Oda army will allow us to help the people of Narumi Castle and the villages around Ōtaka Castle. ”

As soon as these words came out, the audience was in an uproar. However, because Sena Toshishi has always been kind to people and treats his subordinates well, he has a high prestige in the Imagawa family and is very popular, and no one immediately stood up against it.

Seeing that everyone, especially Asahina Taihyung, was dissatisfied, Sena Shijun opened his mouth to explain: "This move is not a steady move in your hearts, but it can actually bring a lot of benefits to the Imagawa family. ”

"First of all, it must be stressed that this grain movement will not be affected by the relief moves." Sena Toshishi gave everyone a reassurance, "Originally, the Imperial Palace only required us to be able to transport half of the military rations into Narumi Castle, and the rest were within the range of consumables. And we have not received the task of attacking Zenshoji Temple, and there will be no problem in relieving the siege of Zenshoji Temple. As for the issue of the release of the more than 50 prisoners, the decision rests with the proposer of the plan, General Yuqiu. ”

In Japan, there is an unwritten rule that prisoners of war are given to whoever is captured, and they do not need to be surrendered. Yu Qiuping was willing to let go of the more than fifty captives, and everyone couldn't stop him.

"But Your Highness, taking Zenshoji Temple will bring great benefits to the Imagawa family." Sena hesitated for a moment, but still raised his doubts.

"That's right, but it may cost a lot of casualties, and the Oda family will not sit idly by." Sena explained, "Even if it's captured. After our army withdrew, the Oda army came while the army was in good season, and it was also a question of whether Zenshoji Temple could hold it. Since I haven't made a plan to capture and stick to Zenshoji Temple before, I don't want to make any extraneous branches. ”

Seeing that everyone was still a little confused and dissatisfied, Sena Shijun paused and continued to explain: "Do you understand, what our Imagawa family needs now is to advance steadily, not to have too many battles. ”

"We already have an absolute advantage in the game with the Oda family, and we just need to snowball to expand the advantage, and when the family governor takes Owari, we can win. Provoking a war is what the Oda family desires, and only by fishing in troubled waters can they have a chance to win in chaos. Sena pointed to the Zenshoji Temple around Narumi Castle on the map, "And to capture this Zenshoji Temple is to further confuse the situation and provide an opportunity for the two sides to go to war." Because the Oda family couldn't defeat Narumi Castle, but they had the opportunity to take down Zenshoji Temple, we also had to send troops to rescue, which we didn't want to see. On the contrary, the use of grain to buy the hearts and minds of the people is steadily advancing. ”

"Then, I'll talk about the great benefits that this event has brought to the Imagawa family." Sena Shitoshi went on to explain, "The Owari Mikawa border has been fighting for many years, and the people have suffered greatly. Our move will undoubtedly win the hearts and minds of the people. The word of mouth of these people is undoubtedly a psychological offensive for the wealthy families and people in the entire Owari territory. Sena Shitoshi paused, "And this time the Oda family just happened to play a diametrically opposite role to us, which will undoubtedly make this popular offensive even more fierce." ”

And the release of the captives was to destroy the morale of the Oda family again. In the past ten years, the Oda family and the Imagawa family were incompatible. Captured captives were also usually taken as slaves, so the Oda family was reluctant to surrender until the last resort. And this release of the captives is actually a statement that we, the Imagawa family, will no longer be embarrassed by the low-level soldiers of the Oda family. And the relief of the people around Narumi Castle and Ōtaka Castle is also showing the attitude of our Imagawa family. That is, the territory around these two castles was considered to belong to the Imagawa family. ”

"Oh my God," Okuhira Sadakichi whispered as he sat next to Asahina Taehyung, "did Momiji come up with a plan after figuring out so many joints in such a short period of time?" ”

"Fart." Asahina Taehyung snorted unceremoniously and looked at Yu Qiuping, who was sitting across from him with a happy face, "That kid is a bad good person." He must have only thought about not wanting more than a thousand people to starve to death. ”

"As for Okabe-sama from Narumi Castle and Uden-sama from Otaka Castle, I've already been understood through the herald's communication." Sena Shijun finally said, "The two adults have said that they will not interfere with our actions. ”

Having said that, Sena has his own plans. The reasons he had just explained in a far-fetched manner were nothing more than a cover to convince everyone. On this expedition, he understood that Imagawa Yoshimoto's purpose was two: to train Yu Qiuping and to find a traitor. Undoubtedly, this negotiation and relief action can be a good exercise for Yu Qiuping's ability.

And the real purpose of his negotiations with the Oda family was to observe the movements of the moles. During the negotiation with the Oda family, it was very likely that the mole would contact the Oda family, so he temporarily went to Okazaki Castle to mobilize a large number of Metsuke groups and ninjas, preparing to monitor the actions of various high-ranking members of the family.

Seeing that everyone under his command reluctantly agreed because they believed in their own judgment, Sena Shijun also let out a long sigh.

In the end, the decision was made, and Yu Qiuping was in charge of the negotiation with the Oda Army. Our bottom line is to release the 50 slaves and relieve the siege of Shanzhao Temple. The bottom line of the Oda family was to allow the Imagawa family's relief troops to enter and leave freely without interference, and verbally promised not to take back the military rations issued.

On the afternoon of February 9, Yu Qiuping sent heralds to various villages, carrying a small amount of rations sufficient to survive the day, and persuaded the villagers not to flee the famine and wait for news of negotiations between the Imagawa and Oda families.

In less than three moments, Yu Qiuping completed the formulation of the plan, and took Naoe Tadadahei, Charlie, Mimasaki Nakahide, Sena Shiyoshi, and Honda Nabenosuke to the west gate of Zenshoji Temple.

"In the Shimo-Imagawa family, the general Yu Qiuhei!" Yu Qiuping shouted dozens of miles away from the gate. "I want to see the Oda family Zenshoji Temple!"

And the five people who followed him also had their own division of labor. Nakahide Omaezaki was in charge of blackface, Naoe Tadahei was in charge of redface, and Sena took the plan drawn up by Akihei in case Akihei forgot it temporarily, and kept babbling in Akihei's ear that the food expenses of the more than fifty captives for a few days should be paid for by the Oda family - of course, it was vetoed by Akihei and Sena. Honda Nabenosuke followed closely behind Yu Qiuping, nervously watching the location of the gate, and once someone rushed out, he would cover Yu Qiuping's evacuation. Charlie, on the other hand, holds a bow in his left hand and a feathered arrow in his right hand, ready to snipe at the archers upstairs who want to shoot Yu Qiuping.

After hearing Yu Qiuping's shout, a few guards on the camp wall went down to the wall of the rock and went to report. After a while, a military general with a white bandage on his shoulder, who was supported by two people and walked up to the camp wall, responded: "I am Sakuma Nobumori, Lord Yuqiu is here, what are you doing?" ”

"I'm here to negotiate." Yu Qiuping said simply and clearly.

"Negotiations? Then you can only ask the adults to go back. Sakuma Nobumori snorted coldly, "The Sakuma family has been the wings of the Oda family for generations, and they will never surrender. ”

"Your Excellency misunderstood." Yu Qiuping smiled slightly, such a negotiation process happened to be in their plan in advance, "We are preparing to magnify people and leave." The Imagawa army besieging the city around him looked at Yu Qiuping, which made him a little nervous.

Yu Qiuping's words were amazing, and the Oda troops on the camp wall looked at Yu Qiuping in surprise, suspicious and happy.

Sakuma Nobumori was stunned for a moment, tasted this sentence, and said again: "This is also impossible." Ben will be ordered to garrison the Shanzhao Temple, and he must not leave his post without permission, and he is here. ”

"Then let's get rid of the siege, what do you think?" Yu Qiuping said briskly.

This sentence completely detonated the Oda army on the camp wall, and everyone suddenly exploded into a pot and talked loudly.

"Quiet!" Sasa Naruma, who was beside Nobumori Sakuma, scolded loudly, and the ashigaru around him didn't dare to offend this asura, so he had to shut up honestly.

"Lord Yuqiu, you don't have to go around the bend, please tell me if you have something." Sakuma Nobumori frowned and asked loudly.

"Sakuma-sama is really a cheerful person, so I'm welcome." Yu Qiuhei spoke again, "I have been ordered to negotiate with the Oda family, and we are willing to lift the siege of Zenshoji Temple, but the Oda family must allow us to give relief to the five villages around Narumi Castle and Odaka Castle. As soon as Yu Qiuping said this, there was an uproar around, and even the Imagawa family ashigaru who had not received specific news was shocked.

"Your Excellency, you are not mistaken, it is the five villages under the rule of the Oda family, we do not want you to cede land, but we just want to use military rations to help the people." Yuakihei looked directly at Sakuma Nobumori and looked at the latter's increasingly surprised look with satisfaction, "My lord doesn't know anything. In the past few days, the Iwaku, which was controlled by the Oda family, such as Tange, had collected all the food stocks in the hands of the people, and a famine was about to break out, so he wanted to help them. ”

"Lord Yuqiu's condition for letting us go is just to help the people of our Oda family?" The other person next to Sakuma Nobumori, Sakuma Nobushige asked in surprise.