Although he knew that what was written in the letter was confidential, he couldn't help but ask when he saw that Hideho was a little panicked.

As a close minister who has served Hideho for many years, Hideho is very relieved about Yiju, and although it is a secret, he also told him without concealment: "The Maori senator said that Edo Nayan was captured by the Ming army in Pyeongtaek, and asked me to bring the power to exchange. ”

"Where is Pyeongtaek? Zhong Nayan was protected by 20,000 Sanhe warriors, how could he be captured easily? Yiju was also surprised when he heard it, but after all, he had experienced a lot behind Xiubao, and he didn't mess up, he just hoped to ask things clearly.

Hideho was also confused at this time, except for a few fortresses along the coast, he had only heard of big cities like Seoul and Pyongyang, where was that Pyeongtaek City, he had no idea at all, how could he tell a moment.

"Don't ask so much, the top priority is to leave for Tian'an as soon as possible, and the specific situation will be explained by the Senate at that time." Xiubao frowned, looked at the letter, and then looked at Quan Zhen and Shi Wenmin on the ship, and sighed: "I'll go back to the city to prepare first, and you go and ask Marshal Quan to get off the ship." ”

Hearing that Xiubao invited them to return to the city, the two of them were also puzzled, despite many temptations, but they were tight-lipped at a moment, and they had no choice but to take one step at a time, but one thing is certain, that is, they don't have to go to Japan for the time being.

After lunch, a group of more than 300 people, led by Nasu Zikichi himself, escorted Hideho and Kwon to the north along Jeolla Road, and two days later, on the evening of the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, arrived at Cheonanseong, where Hidewon was located.

Knowing that Hideho personally escorted Quan Zhen to come, Hidemoto did not dare to slack off, and just after noon, he led Kato Kiyomasa and other generals to wait in a queue in the south of Cheonan Castle. In order to show sincerity, the important ministers of the Tokugawa family who accompanied Hidetada into the court were also present, including Hidetada's family boss Kubo Tadashi and Honda Tadashikatsu's second son Honda Tadasa, such a virtuous minister and good general, it can be regarded as a "dream combination" carefully created by Ieyasu for Hidetada.

Seeing that everyone was waiting in the cold wind, Xiubao hurriedly dismounted and greeted Xiuyuan one step ahead of him. As the so-called family doesn't talk to each other, the two chatted with laughter as soon as they met.

"After a few months of absence, it can be regarded as fate to meet again in the hinterland of North Korea." Xiubao smiled and shook Xiuyuan's hand and whispered in a harmonious voice.

"Yes, I haven't seen each other for three months." Looking at the second-generation head of the Yamato Toyotomi family in front of him, although Xiuyuan sighed to himself, he was also glad and proud to be married to him.

"You are Yamato Daiyan, and the foreign minister Okubo is loyal to his highness." Presumably feeling left out, Okubo had no choice but to report his home to avoid embarrassment.

Being disturbed by his loyal neighbors like this, Hideho found that there were many more fresh faces in front of him, so he felt rude, and hurriedly bowed down and replied: "I just had a good time talking with the Senate, and I didn't want to snub Daisuke Jibu, and I ask for your forgiveness and the Tokugawa family." ”

"Where is it, I haven't seen the senator for a long time, and I should talk more, but it's cold and windy outside the city, so it's really not appropriate to stay longer, if it's convenient, please go into the city with the senator to talk again, so as not to freeze your body and delay your business." Sure enough, he is the genealogy of the Tokugawa family, and although his words are respectful, he is neither humble nor arrogant, and he does not bow down or grovel at all because he asks for Yu Xiubo.

Although he had a relationship with his loyal neighbor in Edo last year, but at this time, when he looked closely, Hideho really felt the powerful aura of this person, and it is no exaggeration to say that no one in the Tokugawa family except Ieyasu has the courage to be above the loyal neighbor, and even Honda Masanobu needs to sigh to himself. Perhaps this is the reason why after the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, he was exiled to Omi by Ieyasu on the charge of crime, and he did not return to Edo until his death.

"Thank you for your concern, in that case, please come with me into the city for dinner." Xiubao gestured to his loyal neighbor, turned around and sat on the shoulder that Xiuyuan had prepared for him, and marched towards the inner city of Tian'an under the escort of Xiuyuan and the generals.

The so-called dinner is just some mountain delicacies and some river fish caught by Hidemoto, in that era, the Japanese did not eat pork and rarely ate beef, so the most eaten is the fish in the water, and the slightly higher grade will go up the mountain to catch some hares and pheasants, if you add a bowl of miso soup and some vegetables, then this meal is quite rich.

During the banquet, Hideho and Hidemoto were still talking and laughing, while the Tokugawa side, as the parties concerned, was mostly sullen and drinking sake, even if they chatted occasionally, it would soon be pulled to Hidetada, and then there was a sigh.

Although Hideho said that he didn't want to see the Tokugawa family, he still had to do a good job of doing a good job, especially now, when the "victim" was frowning, but he was laughing at peanuts here, which was a little inappropriate. So Hideho decided to get straight to the point and listen to the whole thing.

"Lord Zhibu, this time in the hurry to come down, the senatorial letter is also vague, and I still don't know why Zhong Nayan was captured, I don't know if I can tell the truth?" Hideho put down his glass, turned sideways and asked respectfully to his neighbor.

The loyal neighbor was also calm, and told Hideho the ins and outs of the whole thing one by one.

It turned out that on the second day of Xiuyuan's arrival in Cheonan, Xiuzhong set out from Chungju, entered Gyeonggi Province through Zhoude and Xinyang, and faced the eastern gateway of Zhushan, Xiuzhong did not carry out a strong attack as Xiuyuan guessed, but adopted the advice of his loyal neighbors, first mobilized the cave Taizhong to cut off the water veins from the bottom of the mountain, and then took advantage of the dry weather to prevent fire and burn the forest, and turned Zhushan into a bald mountain in just one day, and the Korean defenders in Zhushan City were also demoralized because of the lack of water, and many soldiers fled the city that night.

After Xiuzhong learned about it, not only did he not strengthen the encirclement network, but instead reduced the number of defenders, deliberately making the city soldiers feel that there was an opportunity, and at the same time, more than 100 samurai of the secret organization lurked halfway up the mountain in the night, waiting for night to fall and launch an assault.

Sure enough, due to the lax defense of the Japanese army seen during the day, the number of Korean defenders who escaped by night increased several times. When the warriors who were ambushed in the middle of the mountain saw the city gate open, they immediately rushed up the mountain, taking advantage of the unpreparedness of the fresh soldiers to launch a surprise attack, and soon captured the city gate.

Due to the large number of escapees, and the number of Japanese troops could not be seen clearly at night, the defenders of the city panicked and tried to escape through the side gate, but they encountered the main Japanese force that came to support them on the way, and they were slaughtered before they could organize any decent resistance.

In just one hour, the eastern gate of Gyeonggi Province was opened by Xiuzhong, and a total of 3,000 Korean defenders were annihilated in this battle, while the Japanese army only lost more than 100 people.

Speaking of this, Xiubao couldn't help but wonder: "It can be seen that Zhong Nayan is definitely not a person who wants to do things, how could he be captured by the Ming army in Pyeongtaek?" ”