After everyone left, Hideyoshi motioned for Hideyoshi to sit back in his place, and ordered all the attendants to withdraw, even Mitsunari was no exception, which made Hideho's heart beat a drum, every conversation in the past, no matter how confidential, Mitsunari would always stay next to Hideyoshi, which had become a convention, but now that there were only two uncles and nephews left in the room, presumably what was going to be discussed next was by no means ordinarily important.

"You impressed me yesterday, Your Highness." Hideyoshi said nonchalantly as he sipped his tea.

"The minister's Chinese is taught by the abbot of Jiusong Temple with his heart, yesterday the incident happened suddenly, the minister did not intend to deceive His Highness, please forgive your sin." Hideho bowed down with interest, yesterday was too reckless, Hideyoshi was really suspicious, fortunately, he had already passed the anger with Chongchuan, even if he investigated, he would not show any horses.

"Oh, how can a little abbot be so proficient in Chinese?" Hideyoshi obviously didn't believe it, but his tone was not too tough, as if he had known that Hideho would find such an excuse.

"Chongchuan is a master of the three masters of Xuanpu Ling, since he was a child, he studied Chinese with the master, and Xiubao worshipped him as a teacher last year, and he has studied so far, which is the result of yesterday." Xiubao still kept his head down, and his words were very earnest.

"Lingsan's apprentice," Hideyoshi thought for a moment and said, "That's reasonable, after all, Lingsan is now the leading master of Sinology in China." ”

"It is precisely because of this that the Chinese language of the minister can improve so quickly." Feeling that Hideyoshi had already believed in himself, Hideho dared to raise his head.

As mentioned above, Genpo Lingsan was one of the three senior monks under Hideyoshi, who was familiar with the scriptures and knew Chinese, and was known as a "diplomatic monk" compared to Jingzhe Xuansu and Xixiao Chengcheng, while Lingsan was more introverted and low-key, mainly assisting Hideyoshi in internal affairs, but he was indeed the highest-ranking monk in Hideyoshi's heart. Therefore, as soon as he heard that he was Reizo's apprentice, the suspicions in Hideyoshi's heart basically dissipated.

"I left you here for another matter," Hideyoshi really put the topic aside, but his eyes became misty, and he couldn't tell whether it was sad or sentimental: "Do you know why I arranged for you to go to North Korea?" ”

"Do you want to hone your subordinates?" Xiubao replied bluntly, in fact, he had a more reasonable answer in mind.

"It's just one aspect," Hideyoshi shook his head and smiled bitterly, "I'm using you as bait again this time." ”

"Bait?" Hideho knew what he meant, but still had to feign a look of confusion to paralyze Hideyoshi.

"Haven't you figured out the last Changjiguan and this expedition to North Korea?" Having said this, Hideyoshi believes that it is impossible for Hideho not to understand it.

"What do you mean... His Highness the Inner Palace? Xiubao asked tentatively.

"Well, that's the reason," Hideyoshi continued, "The Inner Mansion has two million stone Zhixing, which is far higher than the other four elders, and if you don't find an opportunity to weaken his strength, it will definitely not be a good thing for the Toyotomi family in the future." ”

"The minister understands that during the Battle of Wenroku, His Royal Highness the Inner Mansion refused to send troops on the grounds of 'purging the Hojo Yu Party' and 'recurrence of eye disease', which has already allowed him to escape, and if he doesn't seize the opportunity to suppress it this time, I'm afraid it will be a big deal in the future." Seeing that Hideyoshi did not hide his intentions at all, Hideho also said another answer in his heart.

"It's really worthy of Kotake's son," Hideyoshi smiled with satisfaction: "That's right, I'm going to make the Tokugawa family peel off a layer of skin through this war, as for the result... It doesn't matter anymore. ”

"Your Highness, what do you mean by that?" Xiubao asked in trepidation, the meaning of the last sentence was too vague, or maybe Xiubao didn't dare to think about it in that direction.

"I don't understand, you understand, you just don't want to say it." Hideyoshi poured himself a drink, and that calm tone really made people a little frightened: "Since the beginning of the war, as long as you have been to North Korea, even ordinary ashigaru, you know that this battle cannot be won, but no one dares to tell me, presumably for my face." ”

"In that case, why do you insist on sending troops again, if it is only to weaken the strength of the Edo side, it is not worth it." Xiubao had the courage to say his thoughts, in his opinion, if he wanted to weaken Ieyasu's strength, it was not that there was no other way, "universal invitation from the world" or something was a bloodless strategy, and the practice of injuring a thousand enemies and losing eight hundred by himself was really a good idea.

"This is also something that can't be helped, the battle of Wenlu has not achieved any results, and those daimyo in the western country have complained again and again, in order to get compensation, this expedition to Korea is also ready to send it. With the character of Shimazu and Nagamune, if he really didn't want to fight, he would have been advised a long time ago, but now don't they all express their obedience one by one? Take the Shimazu family as an example, not only did Yoshihiro lead 10,000 troops to the expedition this time, but even Zhongheng led 800 samurai to accompany him, which shows how eager they are for this battle. As Hideyoshi spoke, he sighed, it seems that even if the people of the world are under one person and above ten thousand, there will be times when they can't help it.

"Like you said, even if you fight, the final result is still the same, don't they know?" Hideho is getting bolder and bolder, presumably no one dares to say this to Hideyoshi.

"If they want to fight me, they have to accompany me, after all, they also bear a considerable part of the food, and the possibility of success of this sneak attack is very great, as long as they can gain a foothold in the south and form a confrontation, then our army will have enough bargaining chips to bargain with the Ming State." Anyone who knows history knows that this possibility is very small, but Hideho sensed a glimmer of hope and enthusiasm in Hideyoshi's eyes, so that he had some compassion and wanted to tell Hideyoshi the truth, but in the end he restrained his impulse, history is history, and he has already stirred up waves by crossing over, and he really can't make bigger waves.

"In addition, there is another reason, and that is to accumulate some military exploits for you, so that in the future, after a hundred years, I will be able to suppress those big names." Hideyoshi looked at Hideho, and a faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, this smile was full of trust and love, so much so that it reminded Hideho of his father and the Hidecho he had never met.

"The minister is afraid, if this is the case, the minister would rather stay in the Nago House and send Gao Hu to command the army for the minister." Hideho felt that Hideyoshi was testing himself, and immediately bowed down.

"Don't be nervous, listen to me." Hideyoshi motioned for Hideho to get up, and at this time he also restrained his smile and said melancholy: "My health has not been as good as before, in fact, even if the doctor doesn't say it, I know that my limit is approaching, so I decided to tell you what I think in my heart." ”

"You know, Xiu Lai is only three years old now, and even if I can live another five years, he will only be eight years old, how can such a stinky doll deter those wolves. And you're different, as a cousin of Hideyori, you don't have ambitions, at least I didn't find out... Therefore, I have decided that after a hundred years, you will assist Hideyori, as a samurai, military merit is a condition that cannot be ignored, even if it is a daimyo, who sits on a million stones, without military merit, he can only be ridiculed by others after all. ”

"Ieyasu, Lijia, Huiyuan, Jingsheng, Xiujia, except for the Xiu family, which of the five elders is not a battle-hardened general, although they all chose to surrender in the end, but I know that the flame in their hearts has never been extinguished, to suppress these people, how can they do it without military exploits?"

"Now that it's peaceful today, there is no war to fight, so I can only send you to North Korea, hold the port of Busan, and ensure the smooth flow of the transportation line, which even the Shimazu family has never done, and now that Yi Sunsin has been dismissed, the North Korean navy is already a plate of scattered sand, and it is not difficult to hold Busan, you have to seize the opportunity to behave well."

"Minister, I will never let down His Highness's trust, and I will swear to protect His Highness Xiulai!" Hideho was almost choked, he didn't expect Hideyoshi to be able to see death, and he didn't expect him to let himself assist Hideyori, this is not an easy but must accept the errand, if Hideho wants to continue the glory of the Toyotomi family, then he must become Hideyoshi's aftermath, only in this way can he be qualified to fight against Ieyasu and avoid the tragedy of Osaka Castle.