Although this family hotel is not large, the terrain is really complicated, and people can get lost in this area. It seems that most of the houses built in mountainous areas to accommodate the topography have this characteristic, most of which are intended to make more efficient use of the small amount of space, and are not necessarily for defensive purposes.

"Lord, please go this way!" I was hesitating at a fork in the cloister when Benmaru poked his head out of the side and beckoned to me. "My lord, please come in!" When he saw me coming, he opened half of the door.

"Meet the Lord!" One of the people in the room immediately bowed to the ground.

"Get up!" I walked into the room, and the door was pulled behind me again.

There was only one candle burning in the room, and the light was not as light as the moonlight in the courtyard, and from time to time the wind blew in through the window to make the candle flame shake for a while, casting strange shadows on the scabies of the trees, which looked so strange. Because the man was lying in a dark shadow, he could only vaguely tell from his outfit that he was not a samurai.

"You've worked so hard in Kyoto, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Nishikoku over the years!" I sat down at the table and waved at him, the sleeves of my light yukata fluttering twice in the air.

"For the sake of the lord's grand cause, the martial arts of the Zhuxing family are prosperous, and even if the minister dies, he will not dare to resign!" He knocked his head again, straightened up, and the three rows of clear ring scars on his head were reflected in the candlelight, which turned out to be the still water ghost.

"You don't have to be polite, your role over the years is no less than tens of thousands of male soldiers!" I also sighed when I said this, and I couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion when I thought of the events of these years.

If you can live in broad daylight, who wants to plan those tricks all day long? To put it mildly, if you are a grass farmer in this world, you may still be able to live by God's mercy, but it is completely impossible to reach my position, not to say that you don't use conspiracies and tricks, or if you use less, you will die without a place to be buried if you use less and are less clumsy than others. If you don't believe me, look at what happened to those guys who just finished up!

"It's all up to the lord to strategize, and his subordinates are just running errands!" He only made a deep gesture, and did not appear complacent or genuinely afraid.

Of all my important retainers, the experience of the still water fox can be said to be the most complicated, the first half of his life was spent almost entirely in exile, and if the cruel life is the best teacher, then his education is much higher than that of Gorky's "university".

Therefore, among all my important retainers, the still water ghost is also the most common way to be a minister, too publicized will attract the lord and taboo, and compliment and prevarication in everything will make people suspect that they have other intentions. Therefore, his practice is to only carry out orders, and after he has done it, he will not say anything except when asked by the lord. For that reason alone, sometimes I feel like he's done more thoroughly than Hanbei Takenaka.

"What's going on in the west, I was too busy a while ago to ask in detail!" I felt a little tingling in my lower back and moved to the right. Living in a high position for a long time will unnaturally develop some habits, and in this humble inn, there are neither special handrails nor backrests to support the waist, which is really a little unaccustomed.

"There won't be any problems with the four countries, the authority of the young lord has basically been completely established!" The still water fox leaned forward slightly, causing his entire face to completely enter the light. "Since the defeat of the Miyoshi clan, there are no too strong wealthy clans in the four countries, and only the Changzong family can barely be counted as one. However, Tosa's land was not rich, it was not a commercial center, and it was suppressed by Kyushu Bungo in the east and Apo in the west, so it did not cause much of a problem. The only possible problem is that after the young lord succeeds to the throne, the Awa region will lack a direct clan of his own family, which may cause instability in the long run! ”

"I'll think about it......" I nodded, but in fact there was nothing to think about, I could only hurry up and have more sons. You have done a good job in this matter, and the local foundation and wealthy families are all leaning towards us, which is the best guarantee. Things in Kyushu are very special, so it must be difficult to do! ”

"There are some difficulties, but they have been solved according to the will of the lord!" The still water ghost fox seemed to be prepared, and took out a thick roll of paper from his arms. "The people of Kyushu are very xenophobic, and there are big clans with a long history like Otomo and Shimazu, so it is not so easy to change the traditional concept and get closer to us among the noble samurai and ronin at the grassroots level. Although some people from San'in, Kii, and moved with His Highness Maeda, I am afraid that it will not have too obvious effects in the short term. However, the great merchants of Hirado and Hakata took an active and cooperative attitude, and soon became an extension of the Ishiyama system of the main prince Sakai Town. Therefore, the eventual complete control of the Kyushu daimyo economically should be possible in ten to twenty years. These are the lists and oaths of those merchants, and commodities like grain have been managed to control the flow and unify prices! ”

"Hmm......" I couldn't stop nodding at the things, his work was really productive.

There were two powerful forces in the Kyushu business community, the Portuguese merchant group in Hirado and the local Kyushu merchant group in Hakata, which were often both separate and interconnected. I had already started this matter during the previous expedition, but in fact, it was not so simple to get them to hand over all the business relationships, but I didn't expect that the still water ghost fox would actually do it in just over a year!

"I'm very happy to have achieved such results, you have worked so hard for so many years!" I took it up and sent it back to Sakai later to give it to Murai Sadakatsu, and that's what happened to him. "I also know that all these years of wronging you have done some sneaky things, but it won't go on like this forever. I still have nearly 200,000 stones in the western part of Zhoufang and Iwami three counties, and after this matter is over, you can restore the identity of the heir of the Ouchi family! ”

"Thank you for your grace!" Years of hard work and loneliness have finally been exchanged for today's glory, and even this deep man has a flash of tears in his eyes. "Then the minister went back to the western country, and the affairs of the old Maori territory are still a little unfinished......

"Let's put aside the work over there, there are some urgent things to come to you this time!" I motioned for him, who had already stood up half-straight, to sit down again, took a sip of the teacup, and said: "Originally, before this Eastern Crusade, I had people find some trouble for the major names in the Northeast, and the original intention was to stumble their feet and make it impossible for them to send troops to participate in the Northern Continent War. What I didn't expect was that the effect would be so good, and that there would be so many self-defeating guys in such a desolate land! ”

The still water ghost fox looked at me and didn't answer, and it seemed that he had roughly understood what I meant.

"You get over there as soon as possible to make them as chaotic as possible, especially to encourage those powerful wealthy clans to rebel against their protection with great fanfare!" As I spoke, I clenched my right hand into a fist and slammed it heavily on the table. "In the past, I only paid attention to those few big names, and I didn't care too much about those wealthy families at the level of city lords, but now it seems that these people are still quite energetic. Later, I will issue a summoning order under Odawara Castle, and let them report to Odawara Castle within a time limit, and as long as they can't come, I will have a reason to deal with them! ”

"The lord wants to ......," the still water fox asked tentatively.

"At least half of the land must be cleared, I have another use!" I made a categorical gesture.

********************************************

After the still water ghost fox left, I sat alone for a while, the more I thought about it, the more I felt that I was smart, since those guys in the Northeast tossed by themselves, I was not afraid to fulfill their wishes. It just seems ......

"Go and get me Kunishin Yasuda!" I shouted to the outside, and then I heard Gobenmaru's promise.

"I don't know what the lord commands?" may be because he was on duty, and Kunishin Yasuda, who ran in, was still wearing a full set of equipment.

"Since you left Ueno, have you still communicated with the Sanada family?" I asked him.

"Nope!" He replied in the affirmative.

"Hmm!" I actually knew the situation, so I nodded. "So you don't know anything about the current situation on Koshin's side?" I asked again.

"Yes!" He replied in the affirmative.

"That said, you're a Kai after all, so there's a mission for you!" My eyes met his eyes at once, and I said word by word: "The first step in this mission is to ask you to restore the name Takeda Nobukiyo!" ”

"Whoa!" The armor on his body rang for a moment, which showed that he was excited at the moment. Although it is not uncommon for the samurai class in Japan to change their names and surnames, the word "Takeda" is really a condensation of too many things. "Obey the Lord's orders!" He replied in a low voice, his voice a little hoarse.

"Then you have to go back to Kai and recruit those wild samurai who are dissatisfied with the Tokugawa as Takeda Nobukiyo...... "I am quite satisfied with his reaction, and explain in detail the plan formed by this sudden inspiration." …… That's the main thing, is there anything else you don't understand? ”

"May I ask my lord, can the minister ask for help from the Sanada family?" Kunishin Yasuda asked cautiously.

"The Sanada family is limited to the sensitivity of their identity, and it is impossible to give you too much public assistance!" I couldn't help but praise myself that he didn't lose his cool because of this huge surprise. "Now the famous general of the Tokugawa family, Sakai Tadaji, is guarding Kai, and he has about 5,000 troops under his command, which is not so easy to deal with. But fortunately, he didn't dare to act rashly at this time, and you also have your own chance. The most important thing in this matter is to grasp the scale, not only to make the people everywhere panic, but also not to force the Tokugawa family to take risks. It is important to note that this is always a 'spontaneous' act! ”

"Yes!" Neither fearing nor pleading, he got up and prepared to leave when he saw my gesture.

"You must remember!" I reminded again: "How long the name Takeda Nobukiyo can be used depends on your results this time!" ”