After the destruction of Akimeura Castle, many people took refuge in the Dengbichuan River, which was entrenched on Iki Island. Lin Yiguan went directly to Iki Island from Cheongju Castle and gathered them together, among these people were former pirates, there were also Japanese pirates who had invaded the coast of the mainland, and of course, more merchants who had been robbed by pirates and killed.

Hearing that Lin Yiguan funded and sent them back to the Daming coast to do business, everyone was very excited, and they expressed their willingness to sell their lives, Deng Bichuan took the opportunity to recommend a few of his subordinates, among which there was a Nanjing businessman who was quite eye-catching, Lin Yiguan wanted to send him to the strategic place of Ningbo.

Next, for each shopkeeper candidate, Lin Yiguan conducted a strict assessment, and learned that this Nanjing businessman was greedy for life and afraid of death, and had no discipline, so he changed his mind, and Deng Bichuan took the opportunity to recommend a businessman named Matsuura Yuanhua.

Matsuura Motoka's original name was Chen Yuanhua, who was originally a porter on Iki Island, and because he was sociable, he climbed to Matsuura Takanobu, the lord of Hirado Castle, and was given the surname by the Matsuura family.

During the Akimeura period, Hayashi tried his best to establish a base in Hirado, but he was never able to gain the trust of Matsuura Takanobu, so he decided to use this Matsuura Yuanhua in the hope of using the Ningbo base to start trading with Hirado in the future.

According to the established plan, Lin Yiguan led the team to North Korea, first set up bases in Busan, Jeolla Province, Wangjing and Pyongyang, etc., considering that the Nanjing merchant had a special background, he left him in Jeolla Province, and then, they trekked all the way to Liaoyang, at this time, it was already the winter solstice.

After Luo Aping was rescued by Li Rusong in the capital, after being afraid of being recognized as the criminal Luo Wenlong, she lied that she was the daughter of a maritime merchant, and fell into the hands of pirates because of an accident on a merchant ship at sea and her parents were killed.

Li Chengliang took pity on his life experience, and heard that she had helped Xu Ling'er in Japan, so he was naturally very grateful, so he made her and Rong'er godsisters and brought her to Liaoyang.

Wu champion Li Rusong was awarded the title of commander by the imperial court, and fought with the Mongols in the northeast with his father, and made great achievements.

The eldest son is already married, for Li Chengliang, who fights in the field every day, it is a matter of his heart, seeing that Rubai has also reached the age of going on the expedition, Li Chengliang began to prepare for his marriage with Rong'er.

Since Xu Ling'er left, Rong'er was depressed every day, chatting about her sister in front of Li Rubai every day, constantly complaining about the Li family's father and son, because she didn't know when Xu Ling'er would come back, Rong'er had an idea, and wanted Ah Ping to take her to Japan to find Xu Ling'er.

The behavior of the two of them was noticed by the alert Chen Su'er, who had questions about Ah Ping's life experience, and interrogated her in private, and learned that she was the second lady of Luo Wenlong's family, and her heart was like breaking the five-flavor bottle, but she didn't betray her, but she looked at her and Rong'er more closely.

Li Chengliang chose the auspicious day of the zodiac and set the wedding of Rong'er and Rubai on the day of the winter solstice, seeing that the winter solstice was coming, Tian Rong'er was anxious, afraid that after getting married, he would never have the opportunity to go to Japan to find his sister.

On the night before the winter solstice, the general soldier's mansion was busy, and Ah Ping, who went out to buy things, suddenly heard that a group of Japanese merchants came to the Liaoyang Inn, and after returning home, he told Rong'er that he wanted to take advantage of Su'er's relaxation of vigilance and follow these merchants to Japan to find Xu Ling'er.

When it came to the end, Rong'er hesitated, crying and preaching: "Our two girls' family, it is not safe to go out with these foreign merchants, tomorrow is the day of my wedding, if Lord Li finds out that I ran away, I am afraid that I will not be able to get out of Liaodong, and I will have to be arrested." ”

"Sister Rong'er, what do you say?" Ah Ping asked.

took out the letter and silver from the cabinet, Rong'er handed it to Ah Ping, and cried and said: "Good sister, sister begs you, you can bring these to find them, if you can find Sister Ling'er, let her come back quickly......"

"Please rest assured, sister, no matter what, I will definitely send the letter to Sister Ling'er, but I can't serve my sister in the future......" Ah Ping said, and she couldn't cry.

On both sides of the gate of the General Soldier's Mansion, there were huge lanterns with the word "Joy", and there was an endless stream of guests giving gifts, Ah Ping carried Rong'er's letter in her arms, and ran out of the mansion in a panic, and went straight to the Liaoyang Inn.

At this moment, Lin Yiguan and Luo Amin were wandering at the door of the inn, and suddenly saw Ah Ping running over, and the two couldn't believe their eyes.

Luo Amin never dreamed that as soon as he arrived in Liaoyang, his sister came to the door, rushed forward and hugged his sister, and the two cried bitterly.

Lin Yiguan suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly returned to the guest room, ordered his subordinates to pack their luggage immediately, and the group left Liaoyang City overnight and went straight to the direction of Shanhaiguan.

On the day of the winter solstice, the wedding of Rubai and Rong'er was being held in Liaoyang City, and Chen Shen, who was far away in Sakai Town, also welcomed Wang Chong and Guo Yi, who chased and killed Lin Yiguan on the Nanyang Islands without success and had to return to Japan.

When making dumplings together, they talked about the bronze mirror again, everyone knows that the bronze mirror is in the hands of the monkey in Qingzhou City, Owari Province, before that, with the help of Xianru, Xu Linger also tried all kinds of methods, but still failed to take it back from the hands of the monkey.

mentioned the monkey of Owari Province, which reminded Guo Yi of Oda Nobunaga, the enemy who killed his father, and immediately threw down the dumpling skin in his hand and said sharply: "I'll go to Cheongju City to kill this monkey!" ”

Xu Yihou hurriedly persuaded: "Guo Qianhu, don't worry, you still have to eat this dumpling on the winter solstice, otherwise, you will freeze your ears." ”

"Sister, it's not that we haven't thought about killing him, it's just that this monkey is very cunning, he has made countless fake bronze mirrors, making it difficult for us to distinguish between real and fake, if we kill him, the real face may never be found." Xu Ling'er replied.

"Can't you catch that monkey?" Wang Chong asked.

Zhu Hui replied: "Brother, Yajiro and I have lived in Cheongju City for half a year, and we have found that monkeys usually never go out alone. Occasionally, he would be seen following Oda Nobunaga on errands, but each time he was protected by many samurai and family members, and although he sent many monks to help us, he still did not dare to act rashly. ”

"Is Yajiro still spying on monkeys in Cheongju Castle?" Wang Chong asked again.

"Yes, I also just came back from Cheongju Castle, and many Sakai merchants have recently visited Cheongju Castle to visit the monkeys, so I came to report to Sister Ling'er." Zhu Hui replied.

Xu Ling'er said: "Zhu Hui, after returning to Cheongju, continue to monitor, as long as the monkey goes out alone, ask the monks and soldiers of Honganji Temple to help, and definitely catch this monkey, I estimate that the bronze mirror is on his body." ”

It can be seen that Guo Yi wanted to capture the monkey in Qingzhou City, and Wang Chong was always worried that she would lose her mind in order to take revenge, so he hurriedly asked, "Have you heard of Lin Yiguan's news now?" ”

Chen Shen replied: "I heard some rumors in the Zhonghe Association, Lin Yiguan may have cooperated with Konishi Ryuza, as for where he is hiding now, I haven't heard yet, maybe it's in Sakai Town." ”

Guo Yi looked a little excited, and said, "Okay, we are ready to arrest Lin Yiguan at any time." ”

So, they secretly monitored Konishi Ryoza in Sakai Town, hoping to find clues about Lin Yiguan, during the Spring Festival, Guo Guoqiang came to pay New Year's greetings, saying that Wen Tao had become a monk at Enryakuji Temple in Hiei Mountain, and Ishikawa Goemon and others were exiled to Satsuma Akimeura, but there was no news of Lin Yiguan.

In the blink of an eye, it came to the spring of the ninth year of Yonglu (AD 1566, the forty-fifth year of Jiajing), Zhu Hui often came back to report the situation in Qingzhou City, the monkeys were still living in seclusion, and they still didn't find a chance to start, at this time, Wang Chong and Guo Yi couldn't help it, and wanted to go to Qingzhou City in person, Xu Yihou, Zhu Junwang, Xu Ling'er and Chen Shen took turns to dissuade them, and resolutely did not let them take any more risks.

It was impossible for the monkey not to leave Cheongju City for the rest of his life, so he decided to wait a little longer, and as long as he could catch the monkey, he would be able to retrieve the bronze mirror.

Time flies, August 15 is approaching, everyone is anxiously waiting for the opportunity in Sakai Town, and Oda Nobunaga, who is far away in Kiyoshu City, has long lost patience with Hideyoshi.

When the moon was in the sky, and on the cool night of autumn and autumn, Oda Nobunaga called Hideyoshi to his house and scolded angrily: "You are really an ugly and lazy monkey, from last year to now, what about those arquebuses that you promised me that can penetrate armor?" When will it be shipped to me? ”

At this time, Lin Yiguan had already set up dozens of strongholds along the Shanhaiguan Pass to the coastal line of Fuzhou, returned to Taiwan, and purchased more than 500 new-style arquebuses from his uncle Lin Daoqian, which had just been transported to Hideyoshi's hands through Konishi Ryonzo.

Listening to Nobunaga's questioning, Hideyoshi replied confidently, "My lord, leave the task of building the castle to me." ”

Oda Nobunaga sneered, and then asked, "I'll leave it to you?" When will you be able to build a castle in Sumamata? ”

"It won't take half a month." Hideyoshi replied in a loud voice.

Hearing him boast about Haikou as if he was joking, Oda Nobunaga was furious and said angrily: "Well, on the first day of the ninth month, if you can't complete this task, I will take your head!" ”

"If I can't build the castle by the first day of September, I'll let the adults fall; If the castle is successfully built, how will the adults reward me? Hideyoshi asked with a hippie smile.

Although Oda Nobunaga was very skeptical, he couldn't help but reply: "How about taking down Mino, changing the surname of a samurai, making you the official position of 'Chikuzen Mamoru', and rewarding Nagahama Castle as your residence?" ”

Hideyoshi immediately prostrated at Nobunaga's feet and replied in a loud voice, "Hashiba Chikuma-mamoru is grateful, please visit Sumata Castle on the second day of the ninth month!" ”

"Feather firewood to build a front guard? What do you mean? ”

"Yu is the feather of Niwa Nagahide, Shiba is the firewood of Shibata Katsuie, and Hashiba Hideyoshi hopes to be like Niwa Nagahide and Shibata Katsuke in the future, and become a general under the command of adults!"

Hearing this, Oda Nobunaga laughed loudly and said, "Then you don't want to go quickly!" ”

So, Hideyoshi hurriedly got up, said goodbye to Oda Nobunaga, and called Wasuka Koroku overnight, and asked: "In the spring of the year before last, we made friends with a lot of wild samurai, and we also saved a girl in black in Chikuzen, and you said that I don't have an official title that day, remember?" ”

"Of course I remember, you seem to be saying that you will be going to be Chikuzen Mamoru in the future, why did you suddenly remember this?"

"Yes, I'm about to become the Chikuzen Shou, Yuchai Zhuqian Shou, hehe."

Wasuka Koroku suddenly came to his senses and asked, "Are you going to prepare for the construction of the castle in Sumamata?" ”

"Gather all the wild samurai we have contacted, take out 100,000 taels of silver and distribute it to them, and build me a castle in Sumamata at all costs, on the first day of the ninth month."

"Only the order of the Lord before the construction is obeyed!"

Koroku Wasuka returned to the Kiso River, gathered the wild samurai along the coast, and immediately prepared to build a castle in Sumamata, promising that they would all become samurai under the command of the nouveau riche of Owari Province and the daimyo of Nagahama Castle, Hashiba Chikuzen.

Being able to become a samurai like a monkey meant that they would all have their own cities and territories in the future, and it was a lifelong dream for these wild samurai, and soon, more than 2,000 people gathered in Sumamata.

Bee Suga Koroku gave them the silver, and there will be brave men under the heavy reward, and when they see these white flowers of silver, they are all elated, and their hearts are full of respect for "Yuchai Tsukimao".

They were boatmen, woodcutters, carpenters, stonemasons and craftsmen, as well as reckless men who worked hard only to get the money, and were divided into more than 20 groups to dig, pile rocks, carry soil, cut wood, and transport them, and push the large trees cut down from the Kiso Mountains into the Kiso River, tie them into rafts, load them with stones, and go down the rapids.

On August 28, Hideyoshi, under the protection of Koroku Beesuka and others, quietly left Kiyosu Castle and went to Sumamata to prepare for war.

After Zhu Hui discovered their whereabouts, he immediately led the monks of Honganji Temple to chase them out, and launched a fierce battle outside Cheongju City, but finally failed to succeed because they were outnumbered.

Under the protection of the monks and soldiers of Honganji, Zhu Hui returned to Sakai Town and told Wang Chong and others the news of the monkey's trip to Sumama. So, they decided to act immediately, and when they arrived at Sumamata, they saw a large construction site in front of them, thousands of people were desperately busy, where could they still find Hideyoshi?

After careful observation, they all noticed a very strange phenomenon: on the other side of the construction site of Sumamata, Mino had gathered tens of thousands of soldiers, waiting to see the jokes on the other side, and as long as the castle was built on the Owari side, they could directly seize it for themselves.

So, they hired a boat, mingled with the busy wild samurai, and hid on the banks of the river downstream of Sumamata, watching the absurd scene from afar.

On the night of August 30, when the torches of the pine trees on both sides of the Kiso River were as bright as day, and the wild samurai began to build the castle, the Saito army on the other side began to cheer, ready to cross the river and seize the castle.

As the east began to turn white, the Saito Legion was surprised to discover that the castle had been built overnight, and they began to attack.

Suddenly, dozens of warships floated up the Sumamata River, swinging out on the river below the castle, and the monkeys dressed in feathers stood on the tall bow of the ship to command Ruoding, and hundreds of musketeers were ready to shoot.

On the other side of the Kiso River, the soldiers of the Saito Legion, dressed in armor and armed with scimitars, were about to seize the newly built castle when they heard Hideyoshi's order, and suddenly muskets rang out, and smoke rose from the river......

Based on the previous experience of attacking Shibata Katsuie, Sakuma Nobumori and Niwa Nagahide, Saito Ryuko believed that these muskets were not enough to withstand the attack of tens of thousands of people, but this time, he was not as lucky as before, only to see hundreds of muskets fired in unison, a row of musketeers was withdrawn, and then another row was replaced, and the ammunition could directly penetrate the armor, almost hitting the gun......

The soldiers who were shot either fell on the boat or fell into the water, and the cries and cries became one, and no one dared to cross the river again, no matter how powerful Saito Ryuko was.

After more than an hour of fighting, Hideyoshi ordered the wild samurai to attack the opposite bank......

Looking at the Saito army fleeing in embarrassment, Hideyoshi stood on the bow of the ship and laughed, turned around, looked at the castle that had been built overnight, and asked in his heart: Why didn't Oda Nobunaga come to inspect it?

After waiting for a while, Hideyoshi looked a little disappointed, so he took out the bronze mirror, looked at his monkey face, and silently shouted in his heart: "Today I have made immortal merits, manifest my spirit!" ”

Xu Ling'er and the others, who were hiding on the shore downstream, were always watching Hideyoshi's every move, seeing that he was holding a bronze mirror to shine over and shine through, and the three of them immediately dived to attack Hideyoshi to take the bronze mirror back.

There were many corpses floating on the river, and many wild samurai jumped into the river to grab the armor from the corpses of the Saito army, and no one paid attention to the movements of the three of them.

Xu Ling'er had a good water nature, swam relatively fast, and arrived under Hideyoshi's boat in a short time......

At this moment, Oda Nobunaga stood on top of the castle and laughed loudly, and asked in a loud voice, "Monkey, what are you doing?" ”

Hideyoshi, who was lying on the boat gang, was holding the bronze mirror in his hand, and was thinking about it, when he suddenly heard Oda Nobunaga's voice, he was so frightened that he shuddered, and when he missed, the bronze mirror fell into the Kiso River, and sank right in front of Xu Ling'er's eyes.

So, Xu Ling'er plunged into the bottom of the river to fish for the bronze mirror, Wang Chong and Guo Yi also saw it, and the two of them swam forward desperately......

Just when Xu Ling'er reached out and touched the bronze mirror, a string of blisters bubbled up under the riverbed, and watched the bronze mirror sink into the silt, at this time, Wang Chong and Guo Yi also swam over, and the three of them dug down hard, dug out a big turtle, and no trace of the bronze mirror could be found......