On January 24, 1606, after thorough preparations, Hidemitsu and his party officially embarked on a journey to Kyushu. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

The journey was long and arduous, but Xiuguang had made up his mind. As the saying goes, if you don't go into the tiger's den, you have to find a way, and you have to do it yourself.

In the face of the threat of the Tokugawa family, in addition to what Hidemitsu had done before, there were several other ways to ensure that the position of the Toyotomi family could continue to be stable. This is also the ultimate purpose of Xiuguang's trip.

How did the late Taiko Hideyoshi take over the world? To put it simply, he relied on "diplomacy" and "trade" to seize the world. To put it more simply, it's just two words, relying on people and money. This is a good sample and example, which is worth learning and studying now.

In short, in the current period, whether you want to win the world or make the world stable, you must rely on these two points. These are also two factors that cannot be ignored in order to develop. This is not only the experience of predecessors, but also a new cognition after the advent of a new era.

If these two points can be done sufficiently, the Toyotomi family will be more likely to reverse in that battle.

Of course, that's all for later.

……

……

The first destination of Hidemitsu and his party was Himeji Castle in Harima.

"Alas, alas...... Alas, Your Highness, Your Highness...... Why、Why do we have to rush so much? ”

After five days of rapid travel, the exhausted Xiuzong let out a hysterical howl as he clung to the trees on the rugged mountain road.

Now, they are located in the mountains near Himeji Castle, and they will soon be able to reach their destination.

"Don't scream, Hyogoro! You think I'm not tired, it's something that can't be helped. ”

Xiuguang, who was walking in front, turned around and yelled at him dissatisfied.

It was noon. It was winter, and they had been walking for a long time on a shady mountain path full of trees, so even if the sun was strong, Xiuguang and his party could not feel the slightest temperature.

Xiuguang was covered in grass clippings and dust, stained with his cheeks, clothes, straw sandals, and hair, and mixed with the sweat on his body, like a mud monkey at this time.

In fact, at first glance, except for Hidemitsu, whether it is Hidemune, Irizawa or Tsurunosuke, the situation on his body at this time is similar to Hidemitsu, and they are all dirty and dirty passers-by. And the Xiu family is even worse, his face has been completely covered in dust and muddy water.

In fact, these were not deliberately done by Xiuguang and his party, but were really caused by the five-day rush. But it just so happens that the filth and embarrassment on their bodies at this time have completely covered up the problem of identity. Now, whether it is a farmer or a samurai, if you look at Hidemitsu and the Hideya, you will never believe that they are the young lord of the Toyotomi family and the former daimyo. Because it's unbelievable how they look now.

"Your Highness! At least take a break from time to time! ”

"It's almost there! The speed has to be fast, if Tsuranosuke doesn't hurry back, it's over! ”

Xiuzong temporarily stopped because he was tired, and he leaned against an old tree with rough bark out of breath, and sat down directly on the muddy ground with roots growing with weak legs. Xiuguang looked back and saw his half-dead appearance, wiping two handfuls of sweat mixed with muddy water, a little helpless.

Because he was worried that his long absence from the city would be exposed, Xiuguang would ask the group to go as fast as they could. They started from Osaka Castle, crossed from Settsu Province, where Osaka Castle is located, to Harima, and passed through Saikyo Temple, Hanakuma Castle, Akashi Castle, and other places, and now finally came to the vicinity of Himeji Castle.

"Toyotomi-sama, let's take a break. It's not good to walk too tired, and you're almost in the city anyway...... Moreover, Lord Xiuzong's face doesn't look very good. ”

Irizawa Shinnai, who had never changed his face, looked back at Xiuzong's blue and white face, sighed, and asked Xiuguang to rest for a while.

"Since Irisawa has said so, let's rest for a while. Feed! Hyogoro! Don't just get on the ground! ”

Xiuguang had just agreed to Irizawa's request in the previous sentence, and in the next second, he found that Xiuzong had changed from sitting to lying down, and was lying directly on the dirty mud floor.

Irizawa Shinnai, Tsuru no Suke, and Hideie also sat down next to the place where Hidemune was lying and began to rest temporarily.

Xiuguang took the dry food and water from Irisawa's hand and began to gnaw.

"I'm almost there, I'm really nostalgic."

The Xiu family, who sat down, did not immediately pick up the dry food and eat it, but looked at the magnificent castle tower outside the woods with some emotion.

"When I was a child, I lived for a long time in the city where His Royal Highness lived. Looking back on it now, that time was really rare. ”

Xiujia happily talked about his life in the city as a child. Xiuguang sat beside him and listened silently to this story, which had been separated by more than twenty years.

"Harima, next to Bizen, that's where I was born. There's Okayama Castle over there, and it's the former home of my Uki family. ”

Xiujia pointed to Xiuguang to the far west.

"The current lord of Okayama Castle, I think it should be Ikeda Terumasa's second son, Tadatsugu. However, I heard that he is only eight years old now, and Okayama Castle is under the control of his brother Lilong. ”

Hidemitsu ate dry food while thinking back to what he knew.

"Time is changing, it's really fast."

Xiujia suddenly sighed and said such a sentence.

"That's why we have to keep up."

Facing Xiujia's exclamation, Xiuguang said this sentence inadvertently. Xiujia looked at Xiuguang with some surprise, and laughed after a while.

"That's right."

Just when Hidemitsu and his party were chatting about things in the north and south of the world, Irizawa Kannai suddenly stood up vigilantly.

“…… The people over there. ”

Irizawa Shinnai held the short knife in his backhand, his eyes squinted and his nerves tensed, staring at the shadows of the woods behind them.

"Come out immediately, or don't blame me for being ruthless."

After Irizawa said this, there was soon movement in the bushes behind him.

Under the watchful eyes of Xiuguang and his party, out of the shadows behind the tree came a young man with a basket on his back and a strong smell of medicinal herbs and earth.

"This adult, the villain is just passing by, don't be so fierce."

The man was of medium height, with a crying and laughing expression on his face, and he made a gesture of surrender to Irizawa.

"With your stealth skills, you're definitely not an ordinary person. Say, what the hell are you? ”

In the face of the man's surrender posture, Iris Ze was still unrelenting and did not put down the weapon in his hand.

"Wait, wait, I'm really passing by! I'm just an ordinary herb picker! This is the only route I have to take to collect medicine, but I heard a voice talking here when I was collecting medicine, so I came to listen! ”

After listening to Irisawa's words, the expression of crying and laughing on the man's face became more and more obvious.

"Herbs?"

When Hidemitsu heard this, he got up with great interest and asked.

"Yes, the villain often picks medicine around here. This side is sparsely populated, and there are almost no traces of people, so in this deep mountain, the medicinal herbs grow very well. ”

Listening to Xiuguang's questioning, the young herb picker wiped the dirt from his face and smiled brightly.