"Now that the matter has been clarified, it is inconvenient for the foreign minister to stay for a long time, so he should return to China and report to the Son of Heaven according to the truth, so as not to delay the discussion and plan." The meaning of Li Zongcheng's words is very clear, that is, "I, Li Zongcheng, don't want to go through this troubled water, and when I return to China, there will be new officials who will come to discuss peace in my place, and now you don't want to keep me anymore." ”

How could Hideho let the mission go back so easily, not to mention that he hadn't set up a good step for Hideyoshi, even if Hideyoshi didn't mind, but if the matter of peace continued to be delayed, it would be difficult to ensure that there would be any more changes in the Ming Dynasty, and it would inevitably be necessary to use swords and soldiers again, and the lives would be ruined.

Thinking of this, Hideho decided to force him to stay and discuss peace matters on the condition of his life-saving grace to Li Zongcheng.

But Hideyoshi didn't seem to be surprised by Li Zongcheng's words at all, and even showed joy on his face, and while ordering someone to pour wine, he comforted Li Zongcheng: "Lord Li went to his country, but suffered such criticism, Hideyoshi is really guilty, but there is an old saying in your country, called 'If you don't die in a big disaster, you will have a blessing'. ”

"Thank you Taige Jiyan," Li Zongcheng bowed slightly, and said respectfully: "This time the peace is not successful, Zongcheng is ashamed, but there is such a big mess, it is really not suitable to continue to stay in your country, after I escort this traitor back to China and hand it over to Dali Temple for processing, I will draft a new peace plan with the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War and submit it to the Son of Heaven for review. ”

"Lord Li is too polite, the mission to visit Japan is a blessing for our country, and Hideyoshi can't ask for it." Hideyoshi raised the wine cup and said with a smile: "It's a pity that this peace agreement can't be reached, but as you can see, the whole country is eagerly looking forward to a truce between the two countries, and I ask you to convey our thoughts to the great tomorrow, and sincerely hope that the day of this mission will be when the two countries are reconciled as before."

"The sincerity of His Royal Highness Taige and all of you here, my Zongcheng will keep it in mind, please rest assured, after returning to China, I will do my best to persuade the imperial court to send envoys to negotiate peace again, and I will never disappoint your trust!" Li Zongcheng hesitated slightly, but he also drank the sake in the cup in one go.

Seeing such a scene, Hideho couldn't say anything more, he could only hope that the next group of missions would arrive as soon as possible, and this war would end as soon as possible, otherwise, the end of the Toyotomi family would not be far away.

The banquet soon ended, and Yang Fangheng left Fushimi with the delegation first, and drove back to Sakai Port that evening. As for Shen Weijing, he was personally guarded by Li Zongcheng, and after Fushimi "rested" for one night, he rushed to Sakai Port early the next morning to meet with the mission, and together they returned home on the Ataka ship specially arranged by Hideyoshi.

Sending off the mission, Hideho finally breathed a sigh of relief, it seems that the historical "Battle of Keicho" will not happen at least this year, all that needs to be done now is to "delay", as long as it can be delayed until Hideyoshi dies, then this war will naturally end, and then you can save your strength to deal with Ieyasu.

According to Hideyoshi's instructions, after sending off the mission, Hideho immediately rushed back to Fushimi Castle to attend the meeting, but not at Mimoto Maru, but at Nagoyamaru, across the river.

If the Mimoto Maru is the preferred place to entertain VIPs and hold banquets, then Nagoya Maru is the best choice for holding military meetings and formulating operational policies.

But as the door of the big wide room slowly opened, the scene that Hideho didn't want to see finally came into view. I saw that Hideyoshi was still sitting in the center, but the kindness and closeness of yesterday had faded from his face, and he stared at Hideho with an almost cold look, which made people shudder; Daimyo such as Tokugawa Ieyasu, Maeda Toshiie, Mori Terumoto, Kobayakawa Takakei, Utakihide, and Uesugi Keikatsu sat on the right side of the lower head, while civil officials such as Asano Nagamasa, Ishida Mitsunari, Masuda Nagamori, Nagashu Masae, and Maeda Genyi sat on the right side of the lower head.

It wasn't until Hideyoshi coughed that Hideho realized that he had been standing at the door for a long time, and when he saw Nagamasa winking at him, he immediately trotted to the left chief and sat down.

"It's late for the waiter, and I didn't hear some things just now, so let the ministry tell you again." Hideyoshi said lightly.

"Yes," Sancheng replied with a bow, "Your Highness, the Taige has decided to send troops to Korea, appointing you as the general of the Ninth Legion, and will immediately go to Sacheon when the envoy returns." ”

"Out of battle?!" Hideho was completely unprepared for this word, more precisely, he didn't know anything about this dispatch to North Korea, "Why, why do you want to fight?" Didn't you already say that you would make peace? Xiubao shouted at Hideyoshi, which surprised everyone present, "Your Highness is rude, don't hurry up and apologize to Taiko!" The Li family shouted.

"No need," Hideyoshi waved his hand, turning his face to Hideho, and showed a hint of a smile: "I'm right, I really have to tell you about this now, if it's too early, I might let you poke out some kind of basket." ”

"Your Highness, this discussion is about to be completed, you must not be rash," Hideho still tried to persuade him, even though he knew that he was simply unable to recover.

"Do you believe what the hell says?" Xiubao asked angrily: "Don't you see that Li Zongcheng is simply perfunctory to me, who knows when the next mission will be sent, if he comes in three or five years, will I have to wait for him for so long?" To tell you the truth, I never intended to negotiate peace, otherwise Settsu Mamoru made such a big mistake, how could he still stand here alive? What I want is an excuse, and with this excuse, I am 'a famous teacher', and I can send troops to Korea and occupy Seoul in a grand manner. ”

"In that case, why did you promise Li Zongcheng again?" Xiubao asked mournfully.

"Agreeing to him is naturally to paralyze him, and if he is paralyzed, he will be able to paralyze the Ming court, so that our army will have an opportunity to take advantage of its unpreparedness to strike first, and occupy favorable terrain before the Ming army reacts, so as to promote a confrontation situation, and then there will be peace talks, I don't believe that they can still be so arrogant." Hideyoshi smiled triumphantly, as if it had all become a reality.

"Since Your Highness has appointed me as the commander of the legion, why didn't you tell Your Majesty about this in advance?" Hideho was a little broken, it had been a year since he crossed over, this was the first time he felt like a fool at the mercy of others, and it was also the first time that he realized how powerless he was in front of Hideyoshi, those previous methods and strategies, compared to Hideyoshi, were not worth mentioning at all, and it was no wonder that Hideyoshi was able to face his anger with a smile, in his eyes, Hideho was just a child, a self-righteous and emotional child, so there was no need to inform him about it in advance, that might be a big deal.

"As I said, I didn't tell you because I was afraid that you would cause unnecessary trouble, and besides, you don't need to prepare anything to garrison Sacheon, it's enough to help me keep an eye on the North Korean navy when the time comes." Hideyoshi said casually, as if he didn't know about the character "Yi Sunsin".

"Watch the North Korean navy?" Xiubao smiled bitterly and said, "Does Your Highness want me to deal with Li Sunsin, the commander of the Three Naval Forces, alone?" ”

"What are you kidding, now that the North Korean navy is under the control of Yuan Jun, that Yi Sunsin has already been dismissed and investigated, otherwise I wouldn't have let you defend the port of Busan." Hideyoshi looked at Hideho curiously, and couldn't figure out why he didn't know, it was already two years ago, and it was still Hideyoshi's handiwork.

(Thank you for your votes and support, thank you, Bear Boy, the next battle of Qingchang, let the flowers and bricks come more violently!) ）