Fukuhara Sadaha was also very embarrassed by the question of the head of the family, although he was one of the few neutrals in the Choshu Domain, and did not approve of the idea that the radical feudal clan wanted to replace the Toyotomi clan; I also do not approve of the development behind closed doors and waiting for the coming days, as advocated by some old-fashioned old ministers.

However, the situation has developed to this point, and the entire Choshu Domain has been dragged down by the radical feudal clansmen, and the shogunate has already set up a posture to beat the Choshu Domain back to its original form and drive the family back to Hagi Castle from Hiroshima again.

After thinking about it again, Fukuhara Sadaka said slowly: "The minister thinks that no matter how aggressive the shogunate's ultimatum is, the family must first have a certain rule and prepare for both civil and military use." ”

After hearing this, Mao Lixiu immediately asked with great interest, "What are the certain rules you are talking about?"

Fukuhara Sadayoshi then replied: "The minister thinks that the certain rule of the family is that, first of all, we must not agree to the shogunate's request for the lord to go to Osaka to be questioned by the shogunate, nor can we agree to the shogunate's decision on the replacement of the head of the Choshu domain;

Second, the Choshu division and the armed forces of the family could not be handed over to the shogunate and dismantled. As for a number of issues, such as the authority to administer the Choshu Customs and the authority to build the Osaka-Okayama Railway to Hiroshima, it is necessary to send someone to negotiate after the shogunate withdraws its troops. ”

With the exception of Fukuhara's disposition of the Emperor's Rebellion, which Fukuhara did not mention, he had largely repudiated most of the conditions set forth in the shogunate's ultimatum. The other retainers were not optimistic about his claims, after all, they could not be the lords of the shogunate. But for one they didn't have a better idea; Second, this proposition can be regarded as excluding the head of the family from the position of the responsible person first, so seeing the appearance of the lord above nodding again and again, these retainers below couldn't help but echo it.

Mao Lixiu suddenly asked Fukuhara Sadayoshi in high spirits: "Then what are your civil and military preparations?" Will the shogunate be forced to make concessions? ”

Fukuhara Sadahoshi did not reply immediately, he pondered for a while before saying extremely cautiously: "With the current situation, the shogunate army obviously has a clear advantage over the family, and at this time, it is obviously difficult for the other party to accept these conditions with the shogunate ourselves, so we need to find an intermediary to turn around."

In the current situation, there are not many options to be qualified to be an intermediary between the main family and the shogunate. In the eyes of the ministers, there are only two, one is the governor's palace stationed in Osaka as the representative of the Ming Emperor; One is the Ming Kingdom Four Seas Trading Company, which leased the northern harbor to establish a whaling base.

If Governor Ye is still here, the minister feels that the chances of the Osaka Governor's Office coming forward are still very high. But now, the minister thought that he could only find a representative of the Ming Kingdom Four Seas Trading Company in Japan. If we can ask him to come forward and convey my request to the shogunate, perhaps the shogunate will sit down and renegotiate with us. ”

Mao Lixiu listened to it and said with some discouragement: "These merchants of the Ming Kingdom are all people who forget their righteousness, and ask them to stand up for their own family, I am afraid that the conditions they put forward may not be more lenient than those of the shogunate." Why don't you talk about it, if the negotiation fails, how should the family prepare for military affairs. ”

Fukuhara Sadayoshi immediately lowered his head and said: "In that case, the minister thinks that the only way to do this is to arm the entire Choshu Domain, and make a gesture that he would rather be broken than broken, and force the shogunate army to retreat in the face of difficulties." ”

Although Mao Lixiu did not comment, some of the retainers present couldn't help but question: "It's one thing whether those people are useful on the battlefield, this is arming the top and bottom of the Changzhou Domain, where did the family get so many weapons?" Even if you buy it from outsiders, I'm afraid that my family doesn't have so much money and time, right? ”

Fukuhara Sadayoshi really thought about this question, so he replied without thinking: "If you integrate the samurai into the common people and train while going to the battlefield, you can always hold on to your feet temporarily." As for weapons, there are bamboo mountains all over the house, and it is not very difficult for people to cut down bamboo to make bamboo guns. ”

Fukuhara's proposal immediately caused an uproar, and even those radical feudal lords did not dare to speak out in support of Fukuhara Sadayoshi's crazy idea. However, this allowed him to avoid being pressed by the head of the family, and Maori Xiu successively named several retainers who opposed the most, but these retainers could not come up with any feasible ideas, and they were much more incompetent than Fukuhara Sadako, which greatly disappointed him.

Finally, he finally named Hiromasa Yoshikawa's name. Although the Choshu Domain regarded "unity" as the spiritual belief of the samurai in the domain, there was a saying that the more lacking there was, the more important it was to emphasize. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi co-opted Kobayakawa Takaki, the Mori system collapsed.

When the Kobayakawa Takaki lineage became extinct with the death of the "Sekigahara God of War" Kobayakawa Hideaki, the only one who could compete with the clan for the right to govern the domain was the Yoshikawa family. Before the Toyotomi family was restored, the Yoshikawa family had always been the target of the Tokugawa clan, and naturally they were wary of the head of the family, Mori Hidemasa.

However, with the restoration of Toyotomi and the interruption of the Tokugawa clan's strategy to win over the Yoshikawa family to suppress the Mori family, coupled with the expansion of the territory of the Choshu Domain, the Mori Hide needed the spirit of "unity" to unite the retainers who had just joined the Mori family, and the relationship between the two sides gradually eased.

However, Yoshikawa Hiromasa is an extremely cautious person, even if Mori Shu has always shown favor to him, and the two are related by marriage, he will not easily make a voice in the feudal government. Therefore, he did not say anything special about Mori Hideyoshi's inquiry, except for expressing his support for Fukuhara Sadayoshi's claim.

For Yoshikawa Hiromasa's answer, Maori Xiu was both satisfied and dissatisfied, but he was not willing to have any conflict with Yoshikawa Hiromasa at this moment, so when he was about to jump to the next retainer, he accidentally saw Yoshikawa Hiroka, who was sitting behind Hiromasa, holding his chin with his hand and looking at the roof in a daze, looking like he was out of the world, which made him feel quite uncomfortable, so he simply named Yoshikawa Hiroka.

Although Yoshikawa Hiroka was praised by Chongzhen when he studied in Beijing, he became famous among the people who respected the king. However, in this palace, he only came to observe and study as the son of Yoshikawa Hiromasa, and according to tradition, he did not have the right to speak. Therefore, when the head of the family suddenly called his name, Yoshikawa Hiroka didn't react for a while, and it wasn't until Kumagai Motonao on the side pushed him with his hand that he came to his senses.

Before he went to Beijing, Yoshikawa Hiroka already had a reputation for being smart and studious in Iwakuni, and after spending the most important five years of his life in Beijing, Beijing, as the center of Asia and even the Oriental world, was not comparable to that of a mere Iwakuni and Choshu Domain, or even Japan.

These five years of half-hostage, half-study career have greatly broadened Yoshikawa Hiroka's horizons, making it difficult for him to focus on a single rock country and Choshu domain. In fact, compared to his father Yoshikawa Hiromasa, Yoshikawa Hiroka's feelings for the Maori family are already quite weak. When the Choshu feudal clan was still haunting the actions of the Yoshikawa Hiroke family in the Battle of Sekigahara and the family lost hope of victory, Yoshikawa Hiroka already thought that the pattern of these Choshu feudal lords was too small.

In today's era, even the Ming Empire, which even Japan is looking up to, can't wait to set its sights on overseas countries, not satisfied that they have occupied the best land in the world, the center of the world, since ancient times. Whether it is the icy Siberian region north of Japan, or the American continent far away from the vast ocean to the east of Japan, or even the Indian Ocean further south of the South Ocean archipelago.

The merchants, farmers, and soldiers of the Ming Kingdom were all over the world in search of unexplored land and undiscovered wealth, and the Maori family and the Japanese feudal clans were still struggling to get a piece of land from their neighbors to strengthen their families.

Instigating the revolt of the kings was nothing more than an attempt to change the dreary kingdom a little, so that fresh air could circulate into the closed rooms of Japan and make the samurai look up at the scenery outside. Although the Ming Dynasty led the Southern Barbarians to break the iron house built by the Tokugawa shogunate, the Japanese in the room only opened their eyes and glanced outside, and then slowly began to repair the broken iron house again.

For a young man like Hiroka Yoshikawa, this kind of Japan is not the country he wants. After hearing Mori Hideyo's question, Yoshikawa Hiroka immediately sorted out his sitting posture, and then replied to the head of the family in a serious manner: "The minister thinks that the best policy at the moment is to surrender to the Osaka Governor's Mansion immediately and accept all the orders issued by the Governor's Palace, then the shogunate army will have no excuse to attack the family." ”

As soon as Yoshikawa Hiroka said this, the Maori retainers in the palace were in an uproar. Even his father immediately reprimanded him and told him to shut up, and then pleaded guilty to the head of the family: "After all, my son is young and still doesn't know enough about the world, so the head of the family should not take his words seriously." Such national affairs should still be decided by the experienced elders and heads of the family, and young people are still not enough after all. ”

Maori Xiu originally wanted to continue to ask, what was Yoshikawa Hiroka's next policy, but looking at the emotions of the retainers, Yoshikawa Hiromasa's love for protecting his son, he didn't mention it and asked other retainers.

However, the retainers after that could no longer put forward ideas that were inconsistent with Fukuhara Sadayoshi and Yoshikawa Hiroka. The meeting lasted for more than five hours, and it was not until everyone was hungry that the Maori Show finally made a decision. On the other hand, he asked Fukuhara Sadayoshi to contact the representative of the Four Seas Trading Company in Choshu and ask the other party to transfer the circle. On the other hand, Yamamoto Matabei and Kumagai Motonao were ordered to preside over the defense of Shimonoseki and Hiroshima to prevent the shogunate army and the Kyushu coalition army from breaking into the heart of the Choshu domain.

Although the meeting was reluctant to reach a conclusion, the Maori retainers were preoccupied when they left, apparently not believing that the decision of the head of the family would solve the current predicament of the family.

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