No matter how strong Mitsunari usually is, now in the face of Hidebo's coercion and temptation, he can only obediently comply, forcing Masuda Nagamori to press a blood mark on the oath with him and draw a pledge.

Hideho took the oath in his hand, looked at it, nodded with satisfaction, and said to Sancheng with a smile: "I believe that His Royal Highness Jibu will never break his oath, in this way, isn't everyone happy, it's getting late, I wonder if you would like to stay with Masuda-sama and have dinner with us?" ”

How can you still eat after this great shame? Mitsuka decisively rejected Hideho's "invitation" and dragged Nagamori straight out of the palace.

Seeing the two of them leave like this, Gao Hu was very unwilling, and complained to Xiubao: "Lord, this is too cheap for the two of them, the oath is too hard for this kind of person, when the straw paper is too hard, how can you really abide by it, I am afraid that it is in vain for you to do this." ”

"Why don't I want to kill them all," Xiubao shook his head, and said with a sense of loss, "The three items listed by the Ministry just now are not unreasonable, both of them are close ministers of the Taiko, and they are both Omi factions, if I really kill him, it will destroy the balance within the regime, even if the division is famous, the Taiko will feel bad about me because of this, and I am afraid that it will also affect myself afterwards." ”

"Besides, do you think what I just said about the three really stands?" Xiubao turned sideways and asked Gao Hu.

Gao Hu thought for a moment and nodded: "In the minister's opinion, all the three articles you said are reasonable and logical, as long as this matter leaks out, whether it is in the North Political Office, the Tokugawa Inner Mansion or the Taiko, the Ministry of Governance will not be able to get good fruits to eat, isn't he also afraid of being embattled before making an oath?" ”

"These are just tricks," Xiubao said with a wry smile, "just now he was exposed by me because of the blame, and I ignored the three points he mentioned, so he was nervous for a while, and was shocked by my repeated questioning, and then forced to make an oath." Did I answer his three questions positively from the conversation just now? ”

Hearing this, Gao Hu stopped talking, and the three questions raised by Sancheng seemed simple, but they could not be solved in a while.

Chongchuan was silent for a long time, and then finally spoke, only to see him smile at Xiubao with his hands folded: "Amitabha, according to the minister's opinion, the lord and the government can be said to be chess opponents." ”

"Yes," Xiubao sighed, clenched his fists, and said unwillingly, "I can't solve the three questions he asked, and he can't answer the three questions I asked, which sounds really ironic, but this is the sadness of being a courtier." ”

"The sorrow of a courtier?" Gao Hu was confused, "What does this have to do with the courtiers?" ”

Chongchuan turned around and asked Gao Hu, "Lord Fujitang, do you think if the two of us slander each other, who will the Lord Guild favor?" ”

Gao Hu was stunned in his heart, scratched his head and replied: "How can the lord know the mind of a courtier, the master really can't answer this question..."

Speaking of this, Gao Hu couldn't help but let out an "ah", and suddenly realized: "What does the master mean..."

Chongchuan bowed slightly, and said kindly: "The relationship between Lord Fujitang and Zai Xia is like the relationship between the lord and the lord, when the two have a conflict, you will think that I am a traitor, and I will also think that you are a minister, no one will compromise, whenever this happens, it is time for the lord to play a role." ”

"That's right," Xiubao nodded in admiration, "As the master said, Gao Hu, think about it, if the two of you have a dispute, will I exile you and use Chongchuan alone, or will I exile Chongchuan and let you take power alone?" ”

Gao Hu replied decisively: "Of course not, it is a taboo for a monarch to be dominant." ”

Seeing that both of them understood, Hideho continued: "In that case, how could Taiko snub the ruling department and use me alone as I said, in the same way, the words of the governing department are just alarmist, I and he represent different forces, and it is by maintaining the balance between the two factions that the Taiko achieves the stability of the political power, and through this policy, it can also isolate the foreign daimyo from the decision-making level, and firmly hold the power in the hands of the Toyotomi clan. From this point of view, the Ministry of Governance cannot be killed. ”

"Can you just watch the Omi faction call for wind and rain in Osaka?" Gao Hu grunted dissatisfiedly.

"It seems that this is the only way to do it for now, which is why I insisted on making the two of them take an oath." Hideho pointed to the oath and explained: "As you said, the oath is like waste paper in this era, just a manifestation of the weak praying for psychological comfort (think of Hideyoshi on his deathbed, alas), but that's all I can do at the moment, Mitsunari not only represents the Omi faction, but also one of the important ministers who can be entrusted to His Royal Highness Shimaru by Taiko, no matter how our Owari faction messes with him, the Toyotomi family will be the Toyotomi family in power in the end; On the other hand, if the ruling department falls, then the Omi faction daimyo under his command will be leaderless, and it is likely that they will be taken advantage of by the daimyo of the outside to win them over. Therefore, from the perspective of the family alone, it is willing to go into the wilderness, but from the perspective of maintaining the stability of the regime, it is absolutely impossible to exterminate him, which is like driving a wolf and leading a tiger, and if a third percent is gone, it may attract a greater threat, which is more than worth the loss. ”

"Then what's the use of this affidavit, isn't this plan you carefully designed in vain?" Gao Hu complained listlessly like a deflated ball.

"It can't be said to be useless," Hideho comforted him, "at least in terms of momentum, the family has pulled back a game." Our Owari faction is mainly composed of military generals, and most of them are ignorant of internal affairs, which gives the Omi people the opportunity to control the center, and originally one faction is outside the main faction, and the other faction is also at peace, but since the Battle of Bunroku, the Omi faction's suppression of the Owari faction has become increasingly cruel, seriously disrupting the balance within the regime, and causing dissatisfaction among many military generals, including Kato and Fukushima. But after all, they are military generals, and they are good at fighting, and when it comes to fighting for power and profit, they will not know anything about intrigues and tricks, and in the long run, they can only demoralize them and boost the arrogance of the ruling department and others, and what I want to do is to reverse this situation. ”

"Just this affidavit?" Gao Hu asked curiously.

"This is just the beginning," Hideho smiled, handed the oath to Kuju, and continued: "Later, I will order someone to copy more than ten copies of it, and send them to the mansions of the daimyo such as Kato, Fukushima, and Asano, so that they can see how Ishida Jibu, who usually shows off his might, grovels down to make such an oath for me, so that I can give the Owari faction a long face, and I don't have to be timid in front of the Omi people in the future." ”

"Sounds pretty good, Lord Kato, they will definitely admire His Highness so much." Gao Hu was a little excited.

Hideho continued, "I can't change the fact that the Omi faction won the favor of the Taiko by virtue of their domestic talents, but we Owari faction can also fight against them through repeated military exploits, and this is the next thing to consider." ”

"Are you referring to North Korea?" This is the only thing Gao Hu can think of, there has been no war in the country for a long time, and the only place where he can make war achievements can only be North Korea.

"That's right," Xiubao stroked his beard and said excitedly, "at most a year, at least half a year, and you will follow me across the sea to the west." ”

"Didn't the Ming Kingdom already send an envoy to negotiate peace?" Gao Hu was puzzled.

Xiubao smiled and shook his head, Gao Hu would never have thought that this peace negotiation was a farce at all, and Hideyoshi also wished that the peace negotiation failed, so he could take this opportunity to conquer Korea again.

That's the end of the matter, Hideho had a slight upper hand in this matter, and it did make Mitsunari and others rein in for a few days, and the military generals of the Owari faction also raised their eyebrows and exhaled a little bit thanks to Hideho's blessings, of course, according to Hidebo's orders, the matter of the oath was not publicized to the public, so as not to arouse Hideyoshi's doubts. Shortly thereafter, Hideho also accepted Kikutei Qingji's daughter Zhizi as a side room in accordance with the previous agreement, and officially established an in-law relationship with the Kikutei family.

(Today is New Year's Day, do you have any celebrations?) They don't all spend the whole day in a dorm like a bear, right? If you have time, you still have to accompany your family and friends, otaku and otaku also go out for a walk, I hope everyone has a good mood all year round in 2013, smooth and smooth, safe and sound! ）