The loss of ten muskets, although the damage is not very serious, but the significance of this should not be underestimated.

The musket is the top priority of the Tsugawa family, and it is the killer weapon of the Tsugawa family. The reason why Tsugawa Soji is full of confidence in the future pacification of Ou is because the Tsugawa family has such sharp weapons as muskets, and there are quite a few of them.

But now that the musket has been stolen, it means that the Tsugawa family may lose the advantage that the musket provides.

Moreover, the muskets have been stored in the warehouses of Minezawa Castle and are guarded every day. The theft under such circumstances means that someone from within the Tsugawa family must have been involved in this matter, and the position is not low, otherwise it would not have been possible to send the musket out of Minezawa Castle, let alone out of the Tsugawa family.

Minezawa Castle is located in the hinterland of the Tsugawa family, and if you want to transport it out of the Tsugawa family, you must pass through many castles along the way. Even if the caravan passed through the territory of the Tsugawa family, every city it went to was subjected to inspection, and every major road was equipped with the Tsugawa family's ashigaru posts and customs posts, and it was undoubtedly very difficult to quietly transport the musket out of the Tsugawa family.

But under such difficult conditions, 10 muskets were missing, and they had been stolen at least 10 days ago, and the retainers of the Ichigan Tsugawa family, including Shimazu and Saburo, had not received any notice, which made the problem very strange.

........

After leaving the castle tower, Shimazu and Saburo did not return home, but rode directly on their horses towards the Araze Pavilion in the south of Minezawa Castle.

Shimazu and Saburo had realized that the forces in Minezawa Castle were no longer reliable. Judging from the situation tonight, it is clear that such a problem arises and Kasai Kiyoyasu is to blame, but Shimazu and Saburo have no evidence at all.

And the troops in Minezawa Castle are all under the command of Kasai Kiyoyasu, if Shimazu and Saburo want to find out about this matter, they can only leave Kasai Kiyoyasu and others to investigate on their own. So Shimazu and Saburo are now going to the Arase Pavilion and transferring their musket team to Minezawa Castle.

As soon as Shimazu and Saburo left on the front foot, Kasai Kiyoyasu received the news.

"So, Shimazu and Saburo went directly to the Arase Pavilion?" Kasai Kiyoyasu sat in the castle tower and said to Ichiro Kosaki beside him with an expressionless face.

Ichiro Kosaki nodded, "Lord Kasai, the musket team under the command of Shimazu and Saburo is stationed in the Arase Pavilion, and Shimazu and Saburo are obviously returning to the Arase Pavilion to transfer troops. If Shimazu and Saburo return to Minezawa Castle with their troops, it won't be good news for us. ”

"Hmm." Kasai Kiyoyasu also nodded and said, "How long have Shimazu and Saburo been gone?" ”

"I just walked for a while, and after seeing Shimazu and Saburo out of the city, I immediately came to report to the adults." Ichiro Kosaki replied hurriedly.

Kasai Kiyoyasu suddenly stood up and said to Ichiro Kosaki and Jiro Ando, "Jiro, Ichiro, the matter has come to this, and we can't care about it so much." Shimazu and Saburo are already suspicious of us, and if Shimazu and Saburo are allowed to return to Minezawa Castle with their troops, then we will be all done. ”

"It's imperative that Shimazu and Saburo arrive at the Arase Pavilion!" Kasai Kiyoyasu said loudly.

Hearing Kasai Kiyoyasu's words, Ichiro Kosaki said with a solemn face, "What do you mean by .......," and as he spoke, Ichiro Kosaki gestured at his neck.

Kasai Kiyoyasu nodded and said, "Ichiro, you immediately go outside the city and find Shimada Kanbei and the others." They have horses, explain to them that they are very important, and then be sure to catch up with Shimazu and Saburo, and never let Shimazu and Saburo reach the Arase Pavilion alive. ”

"Jiro, you immediately send someone to the nearest Fengzhang Castle, and explain to Akechi Mitsuhisa that Shimazu and Saburo have colluded with foreign enemies and intended rebellion. In addition, he sent people to Tsugawa Castle, Ueno Castle and other places to spread the news of Shimazu and Saburo's rebellion throughout the territory as soon as possible. ”

In this way, no matter what happens in the future, all the blame will be placed on Shimazu and Saburo. And if Shimazu and Saburo die, then we will also have a meritorious contribution to quelling the rebellion, and maybe we will be rewarded! Kasai Kiyoyasu said with a hideous face, "Now that we are grasshoppers on a rope, if we want to live, we have to listen to me, understand?" ”

"Hah!"

............

Outside Minezawa Castle, when Ichiro Kosaki found Shimada Kanbei and the others again, Shimada Kanbei and the others were obviously impatient to wait.

As soon as he saw Ichiro Kosaki, Shimada Kanbei asked eagerly, "Osaki-sama, what's the situation?" ”

Ichiro Kosaki hurriedly said, "Shimada-sama, the situation has changed, and our affairs have been noticed by Shimazu and Saburo. Now that Shimazu and Saburo have left the castle for the Arase Pavilion, they will return to Minezawa Castle with a large army tomorrow morning at the latest, and everything will be over by then. ”

"The best way now is for Shimada-sama to leave immediately and intercept Shimazu and Saburo. As long as Shimazu and Saburo die, then our affairs don't have to worry about being exposed. And Kasai-sama has already sent people to all parts of the territory to spread the word about Shimazu and Saburo's intention to rebel, and when the time comes, everything can be pushed on Shimazu and Saburo, and we will be safe and sound. Ichiro Kosaki said slowly.

Hearing Ichiro Kosaki's words, Kanbei Shimada and others also realized the seriousness of the problem.

Although the life and death of Kasai Kiyoyasu and others have nothing to do with Shimada Kanbei and others, if you want to get a musket, you really need Kasai Kiyoyasu's help. If Kasai Kiyoyasu is controlled by Shimazu and Saburo, then not only will Kasai Kiyoyasu's silver sentence be wasted before, but the musket will no longer have anything to do with the Mogami family.

"Katsushiro, you immediately set off in the direction of Arasekan to pursue Shimazu and Saburo." Thinking of this, Shimada Kanbei hurriedly turned around and said to Katsushiro Okamoto beside him.

"Hah!"

.........

Shimazu and Saburo rode on their horses all the way in the direction of Arasekan, but because it was too dark, Shimazu and Saburo could only control the speed of their horses and move slowly.

When Shimazu and Saburo rode their horses to the vicinity of Mt. Aren between Minezawa Castle and Arasekan, Shimazu and Saburo suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves behind them.

Shimazu and Saburo first looked back and were stunned for a moment, then suddenly reacted, and quickly turned their horses' heads and ran west.

"Damn! It seems that the theft of the musket is really Kasai Kiyoyasu is making trouble, otherwise how could it be that as soon as I left on the front foot, there would be chasing soldiers chasing me! Shimazu and Saburo thought resentfully.

Shimazu and Saburo are not fools, at this time there are pursuers behind them, and they can think with their toes that they are coming at themselves. Thinking about what happened tonight, Shimazu and Saburo were already able to determine that the theft of the musket must have something to do with Kasai Kiyoyasu.

Now if they want to get rid of the pursuers, Shimazu and Saburo will definitely be caught up if they continue to advance in the direction of Arasekan, so Shimazu and Saburo can only run towards Ajin Ginzan, where there is still a force of the Tsugawa family.

However, the horses under Shimazu and Saburo's crotch are not war horses, but horses used to transport supplies, and they are not fast. When Shimazu and Saburo had already vaguely seen the light of the fire in the direction of Aren Silver Mountain, they were finally caught up..........