The fall of Eiga Castle was reasonably fast, and Miki Toaki was also hit in the forehead by a stray bullet in the bombardment, killing him on the spot.

The Hosokawa army went straight up the Yumezen River and soon came to Himeji Castle, Hirayama Castle run by the Kuroda family for two generations.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

"See Yamatata!" Kuroda saluted on the side of the road and welcomed Hosokawa Nobumoto into the city.

Hosokawa Nobumoto got off his horse and helped Kuroda Itakaka, who was over half a hundred years old, but he was the father of Takaka.

"Thank you, Lord Yagata! The house is already packed, please move in. Kuroda bowed and led Hosokawa Nobumoto into the city.

With the occupation of Himeji Castle, the Kodera family was completely surrounded, and the lonely Imperial Castle was like a nail household, cut off from any foreign aid.

"Yagata-sama! Please use tea! In the tea room, Kuroda has just mixed a bowl of tea, holding the bowl with the palm of his left hand and holding the edge of the bowl with the five fingers of his right hand, and sending it to Hosokawa Nobumoto.

"Thank you." Hosokawa Nobumoto took the tea bowl with both hands, looked at the green tea in the bowl, gently turned the tea bowl, turned the tea bowl one and a half times, and left the front of the tea bowl, then took a shallow sip and tasted it, which was to avoid drinking from the front.

"Good tea!" Hosokawa Nobumoto sighed in admiration, then wiped the corners of his mouth with his thumb, turned the tea bowl back to the front, and handed it back to Kuroda.

"The weather is really nice today." Kuroda looked at the scene in the courtyard, and it was late autumn and the land was golden.

"Well... Yes, it's going to be a good harvest this year. Hosokawa Nobumoto nodded, in the authentic day "In this tea ceremony, it is never allowed to talk about worldly topics such as money and politics, let alone business, but mostly about nature.

After a while, after three more rounds of tea, Kuroda signaled the surname to remove the tea set. Hosokawa Nobumoto knew that the main topic was coming.

"Yagata-sama, I would like to ask, what are your ambitions?" Kuroda looked at Nobumoto Hosokawa, and the two looked at each other, the light of wisdom flashing in their eyes.

"Only in charge of the ears of the world." Hosokawa Nobumoto did not shy away from it, and now, after 20 years of foundation building, he has established a perfect system and a strong retainer group.

"Hmm." Kuroda responded indifferently, as if it wasn't a big deal.

"But... The world cannot rely on hegemony alone... There must also be benevolence..."Although Kuroda did not say it explicitly, it was obvious that Hosokawa Nobumoto had exterminated the Hatano clan at the beginning.

"Hmm... I understand it below.,The matter of the Koji family will trouble you.。 Hosokawa Nobumoto understood his intentions and wanted to keep the Kodera family, after all, Hosokawa Nobumoto has always been merciless to betrayers.

"Thank you, Lord Yagata!" Kuroda is deeply courteous, he doesn't want the Koji family to be like other families, and the family is oblivion.

In this way, Hosokawa's army stayed here without any military action.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

"What to do? What to do! You have something to say! Rubbish! It's all a bunch of rubbish! "In the council hall in the castle, the political office of Koji roared like thunder, and since the Kuroda clan left, there was no capable minister.

"My lord! Lord! A samurai stumbled in through the door.

"Huh? Be... Did the Hosokawa Army call it? Koji immediately sat down on the throne in fright, his mouth slightly open, and he had a frightened expression.

"No... No..."When the samurai saw his lord's expression, he didn't know how to answer.

"What's that! Say it! The important minister Xiaohe Liangli scolded angrily, just now they were reprimanded by the lord with their heads and faces, and they were worried that there was nowhere to sprinkle.

"It's... It's Kuroda-sama who is here..."The samurai quickly bowed his head in response.

"What... What the? Is Job Long coming? Where is it? Where? Zhilong! Zhilong save me! The official of the small temple did not even bother to put on his shoes, so he hurried out of the council hall.

"My lord." Kuroda Zhitaka saluted, although his son joined the Hosokawa family, but he was still a retainer of the Kodera family, but he didn't have the trust he had in the past.

"Oh, Zhilong! You're going to save me! "Koji is very excited about the job of holding Zhilong, since he learned that Miki Castle was destroyed and Yinghe Castle was not guaranteed, he was worried about his fate day and night.

"Don't worry, my lord, let's talk inside." Kuroda was very calm, looking at Koji Masatoshi and said with a smile.

"Okay, okay, continue inside, continue inside." As if he had found the backbone of the temple again, he nodded again and again.

Soon, the two returned to the council hall and saw many people looking at Kuroda with hatred.

"Humph! What else are you doing! "Koji Noriji is full of displeasure, he is the third brother of Koji's political office.

"Coming down, it's naturally for the sake of the small temple family." Kuroda didn't care, sat down and looked at Kotera calmly.

"Oh? How do you say that? Noriharu Kodera asked disdainfully, while Kodera sat on the main seat, leaning forward inadvertently, anxiously waiting for Kuroda's speech.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Now that the situation is very clear, my Kodera family has been completely besieged by the 30,000 troops of the Hosokawa family, and if you don't want to die like the Hatano family, there is only one way out! Kuroda looked around, and the prestige of the chief retainer for many years weighed everyone powerless to refute.

"Down? Surrender? But is he Hosokawa Nobumoto Ken? Didn't you claim to kill your own family? "Kodera naturally wants to live, but he heard that Hosokawa Nobumoto will not spare disloyal people.

"I'm afraid it's going to come at a price..."

"What... At what cost? I'll say yes to anything! All promised! The political position of the small temple seemed to grasp a straw for life, and couldn't help but move forward a few steps.

"I just need you for the continuation of the Kotera family... Make the due apologies..."Kuroda looked at Kodera indifferently.

"In order to... Continuation? Apologize? Isn't that right? Koji's eyes widened and his face was shocked.

"That's right, it's like the other houses..."Kuroda can only do this, helping the Kodera family keep their roots.

"It's... This..."Koji sat down on the ground, which was completely different from what he thought, and thought he could survive, and then secretly looked at the back door.

"Don't try to run away! Now that the sea and land are blocked by the Hosokawa family, and their ninjas are haunted, there is no way to escape. Do it! It will only bury the Koji family! Kuroda suddenly shouted, scaring the Koji government.

"Wow you! It turned out to be helping Hosokawa Nobugen to force us! Thanks to you, you have received the great favor of my small temple family! Leave your life behind today! The fourth small temple was angry, and immediately pulled out the knife on his waist and slashed it towards Kuroda Zhitaka.