In the early morning of the second day, as soon as the sky was bright, the clan was in front, Maeda Keiji followed behind with a spear and a burden on the gun, and the ten ninjas were secretly protecting the surroundings under the leadership of Ishikawa Goemon.

Because this road is full of the territory of the Oda family, and there is Ishikawa Goemon in the dark, and Maeda Keiji is by his side to protect it, so the clan does not have the slightest worry, and the Asai Nagamasa is even more good to the people, like what kind of bandits, the robbers have basically disappeared in Kita-Omi, even if they enter the territory of the Asai family, the clan will not have any worries.

And in fact, it is exactly like this, the clan and Maeda Keiji have been entering the North Omi for a day and a half, but even a group of bandits and robbers have not been discovered, such as today is too late, but because the clan and Maeda Keiji are not familiar with this place, so they have not found the castle town.

The clan was already pampered, and he didn't plan to sleep in the wilderness. I only heard him shouting, "Ishikawa Goemon"

As soon as the words fell, by the moonlight, I saw that on a tree more than ten or twenty meters away, suddenly a person jumped down from the top and hurried to the front of the clan, this person was the Ishikawa Goemon Somasa who had just been subdued.

Ishikawa Goemon, who was dressed in black, armor and black helmet, came to the clan and saluted and said, "My subordinates are here, please give orders to my lord." ”

Seeing that it was not early, the clan was a little anxious, so he hurriedly said, "Immediately send a ninja to find out where to stay." ”

After Ishikawa Goemon received the order, he immediately sent eight ninjas to investigate in eight different directions, and he and the other two ninjas appeared to protect the clan. The clan and the other five people were warming up around the bonfire while waiting for news from the ninja.

After a long time, just when the clan was about to fall asleep, a ninja finally came from the east, only to hear him speak: "Report to the lord, there is a castle town three miles to the west, and there is a lodging house for accommodation, and please ask the lord to decide." ”

"Well, Zhilu Dao, let's lead the way." After saying that, the clan said to the other ninja: "You wait here for the other ninjas, and when they are all together, they will meet me at the castle town three miles to the west." ”

"Lord, are you waiting for news from other ninjas? In case there is a closer ......" Just as the clan had already stood up, Keiji Maeda spoke.

The weather after the year is still very cold, if it weren't for the bonfire to keep warm, everyone would have been frozen, the clan no longer wants to suffer here, and the thought of those ninjas has not come back now, this means that the other castle towns should be farther away, thinking of this, I only heard the clan say: "Needless to say, let's go immediately." ”

Just when the clan went to that castle town, the castle tower of Kotani Castle was brightly lit, and in the evaluation room, in addition to Asai Nagamasa, who was sitting on the main seat, there were more than a dozen important ministers, and the reason why they had not rested until now was because of the ninja report just now, and the Oda family decided to form an alliance with the main family at the year-end evaluation meeting. Moreover, the ninja also reported the rumors that were prevalent in Owari to Asai Nagamasa.

After receiving this news, Asai Nagamasa immediately gathered more than a dozen important ministers who had not yet returned to the territory to discuss the matter. The alliance between the two families should be a good thing, but Asai Nagamasa is not happy at all, in his opinion, although the Oda family has not completely eliminated the Saito family, however, it is only a matter of time, and the Oda family is allied with themselves, will it be planned to stabilize themselves first, afraid that the Asai family will help Saito and the time of danger, and after eliminating the Saito family, he will turn his face to eliminate himself, the truth of the death of his lips and teeth, Asai Nagamasa still understands.

Moreover, when the time comes, when the Oda family owns the two countries of Ono and some corners, the stone height is as much as 1.2 million, which is nearly three times that of the main family, and even Asai Nagamasa, who has always been quite confident, is now a little less confident,...,

However, Asai Nagamasa thought of Oda Nobunaga's alliance with the Matsudaira family, compared to the Oda family, the Matsudaira family is too weak, and has encountered crises many times, Oda Nobunaga could have easily annexed it, but he didn't do it, which shows that Oda Nobunaga is still true to his word, so if it is really an alliance with it, Oda Nobunaga should not turn his face, thinking of this, Asai Nagamasa in his heart, the idea of wanting to form an alliance with the Oda family has the upper hand again.

I saw him frown and asked, "Everyone, now that Oda Nobunaga has sent his subordinate generals to discuss the alliance between the two families, and the Takayama Clan will arrive here in a few days, I don't know what you think about this?" ”

Most of the dozen or so important ministers who sat down were the heads of the Kita-Omi wealthy clan, and although they were under the leadership of Asai Nagamasa, they had a high degree of autonomy, and now after listening to them, most of them did not support the alliance between the Oda family and the Oda family, and no one wanted to see their neighbors too powerful, which would make them sleep.

Therefore, what this part of the people want to see is an alliance between the family and the Saito family, so that after helping the Saito family recapture North America and Higashiminon, let the Saito and Oda families fight to the death, only in this way can the family continue to carry out the Minami Omi strategy without worries.

From the alliance between the Oda family and the Matsudaira family, it can be seen that Oda Nobunaga is not a person who forgets his righteousness, and he also sent his most beloved sister to the lord as a wife, which seems to be marrying a sister, but in fact it is a hostage, and its sincerity is self-evident. If you can really form an alliance with the Oda family, it will only be good for the family.

After thinking about it for a while, the important ministers present only heard Miyabe Jirun be the first to speak: "My lord, you must not form an alliance with the Oda family, otherwise the family will be in danger."

The subordinates believe that the reason why the Oda family wants to form an alliance with the main family is nothing more than seeing that Inabayama Castle is difficult to capture, and they are afraid that the family will lead the army to support, so they will come up with this strategy, and plan to break each one. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, he only heard Haibei Tsunade continue: "What Miyabe-sama said is good, and his subordinates believe that not only should they not form an alliance with the Oda family, but should make friends with the Saito family, only in this way can the Asai family profit from it, and ask the lord to decide." ”

"Yes, my lord, that Oda Nobunaga is a wolf ambition, otherwise I will never reuse someone like the Takayama clan who does not respect gods and Buddhas, if the lord and the Oda family form an alliance, it will be a big reputation, please think twice." After the two of them spoke, the retainers who did not support the alliance with the Oda family also spoke out to dissuade them.

After listening to this advice, Asai Nagamasa did not speak immediately, although he was a little worried, but he thought that if he could form an alliance with him, it would still be more beneficial than disadvantageous for his family.

Moreover, that Saito Ryuxing faced the dilemma that the Saito family was about to perish, and he only knew how to enjoy it, and he didn't know how to reuse the Mino trio and the Takenaka half-guard, but instead he favored Hino Nehiro, Kazumi Mitsuken and other traitorous people, and if the Saito family was not destroyed by the Oda family, it would be strange.

If it weren't for the entanglement between the Rokkaku family and the main family, he would have gone to take the land of Namino a long time ago. If that's the case, there's still a headache for the Oda family.

Thinking of this, Asai Nagamasa rejected the idea of forming an alliance with the Saito family and resisting the Oda family together, but for the alliance of the Oda family, although he is the head of the family, he can't consider the thoughts of the retainers, after all, the Asai family and the Oda family are different, and the land controlled by the retainers of the Oda family is not as much as thirty percent of the land under the rule of Oda Nobunaga, but the family is just the opposite, the land controlled by the retainers, especially the wealthy family, has reached sixty percent of the total stone height of the family, if he is arbitrary, It is very likely that he will be ruthlessly abolished like his father. …,

Now although the Asai family looks very peaceful on the surface, but the fact is not, as the head of the family, Asai Nagamasa has been on a rampage with these wealthy samurai, and it may break out at any time, and another idea of his intention to form an alliance with the Oda family is to use the strength of the Oda family to reorganize the strength of the family, at least, he must also get enough right to speak.

Although many retainers dissuaded him, some of them did not speak, and he couldn't help but sweep his eyes around them, and the purpose of his move was obvious, that is, to make these retainers who had not yet spoken speak to express different opinions.

Among the retainers seated, Anyangji Sekei was the most in favor of an alliance between the family and the Oda family, and before that, he had intended to persuade the lord to form an alliance with him, but since he had never found a suitable opportunity, the idea was also postponed.

Today, since the Oda family first sent someone to negotiate, and is willing to marry the two families, as long as the family does not break the alliance first, then the alliance between the two families will be unbreakable, and the lord must be persuaded to seize this golden opportunity.

I only heard Anyangji Shijing solemnly said: "My lord, my subordinates think that if the family wants to continue to survive, it should form an alliance with the Oda family, otherwise, the family will be attacked by both the Rokkaku and the Oda family, and with the current strength of the family, it is impossible to resist at all, and please think twice." ”

"Lord, what Lord Anyangji said is reasonable, and his subordinates also think that Oda Nobunaga is still very trustworthy, and the alliance of the rest of the weak Matsudaira family is a good example, compared to the Matsudaira family and the Oda family, it is much weaker, and there have been many great disasters, and Oda Nobunaga not only did not take the opportunity to seize its foundation, but sent the army to help, and married the princess to the son of Matsudaira Motoyasu, such an ally is really rare, if you miss it, it is the loss of the family, and please ask the lord to decide."

After taking him to finish speaking, Asai Nagamasa also had many retainers echoing him, and he couldn't help but say: "What Lord Anyangji said is reasonable, I have decided to ally with the Oda family, and as for the marriage, I will talk about it later." ”……，