"Your Highness, I'll go back now. We will get everything ready as soon as possible and be ready to greet you at any time! Sorokuro Mizuki said as he bowed and retreated backwards towards the door.

"Well, you'll hear from me soon!" I waved at him pleasantly, and he bowed out and pulled the door up from the outside.

It's been 10 days since that bloody night, and I don't know if it's because of this that Izumi has become unusually calm, not only did the Awaji pirates not come again, but even the harassment of the Saga people has disappeared, all of this is very abnormal! But anyway, I should go and go back to Tango to celebrate the New Year with my family.

There were a few things that had to be done before leaving, and after assigning Hidemasa Hori and Kazushi Nakamura jobs in Kishiwada Castle and some land, Sorokuro Mizuki was also rewarded. I transferred his land from the mountains to the east to the vicinity of Taishi Village, and the amount was increased to 1,800 stones, and in addition to giving his subordinates the privilege of fishing tax-free, I believe that he can play a certain role model among the wealthy families of Hequan.

"Lord, Boss Tsuda and Master Stillwater are here!" Sakurai Sakichi reported outside the door.

"Let them in!" I sat up straight in the main seat, adjusted my meter, and then spoke out the door.

"I've given you New Year's greetings in advance, and I wish the stars a prosperous martial arts!" As soon as the two men entered, they knelt down.

The wealthy Tsuda Muneki is still dressed in that simple dress, and the common disease of overnutrition of successful businessmen does not appear in him, but he is slightly older, and his temples are stained with hoarfrost. In the past few years, the still water ghost fox has slightly shown some signs of fortune, a face is full of red light, and the moon-white silk monk's robe and ivory buckle purple robe have added to the nobility of Zhou's body.

"It's really hard to get you here in such a hurry, please take a seat!" I felt a little guilty in my heart, and I didn't let others stop during the New Year. However, there is no way to do this, and if you don't start to prepare, there may be a "misunderstanding".

"It is our honor to serve His Highness (the lord)!" The two of them replied together, apparently knowing that my call could not have been made without a reason.

"I won't beat around the bush with the two of you, this time I invited you two here for Kii's business!" I put away my polite smile and said solemnly: "The rights and wrongs between the people of Kii and the right general must be very clear to the two of them, so I won't say more here." Now I would like to say that since things have come to this point and have happened to me, it is no longer realistic to continue to avoid or rest on my laurels. Now the key is what to do in the future, and to come to you is to communicate with 'over there'! ”

"Excuse me...... What kind of 'grace' can you give to the people of Kii, especially the Saga people? After a moment of silence, Tsuda asked me cautiously. They have repeatedly offended the tiger power of His Royal Highness the Right General in the past, and it is a great gift to be pardoned, and of course there should be no more thoughts of wrongdoing. But...... But considering Kii's true situation all along......"

"I thought about this and made a decision!" I certainly know what he means by "grace" and I know the content of "truth" very well. "The people of the country have been the uncrowned kings of Kii for decades, and all the power is in their hands. But that's the end of it, and I won't tolerate it any longer. Me and my army must enter Kii and master all the key castles and become the veritable masters of Kii! ”

"This ...... This ......" Tsuda Munekazu and Shizumizu Yuhu looked embarrassed, and they didn't know how to answer the task I had given them.

"But I can ignore their past crimes and guarantee the safety of all their property!" I spoke to them very seriously, thinking about what other benefits I could give them. “…… A change in their national identity can be considered, but this issue needs to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. Although the main target of your visit to Kii is the Saga people, it is not limited to this family, and the Nerai people and others can also talk. If separation can solve part of the problem, it is also a great achievement! ”

"Yes, we'll do our best!" The two of them replied stiffly. My conditions are more like a winner's ultimatum than a negotiation, and the difficulty is understandable.

"Okay, just do your best!" I softened my breath, thinking that I shouldn't put too much pressure on them. "I know it's embarrassing for you, but I can only go so far, I hope you can understand. I don't blame you even if the negotiations end up getting out of hand, but at the end of the day, I have to resort to force, and my demands must be met. That's going to shed a lot of blood, lots and lots of ......," I glared at Tsuda Munezu. "That would be a very 'regrettable' thing!"

"Yes, thank you for your magnanimity!" Thin beads of sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Do you think it's possible that the people within Kii will be divided, and is it feasible to influence others through some of them?" I think it is necessary to understand the possible outcome of the negotiations, which is also necessary to make certain military arrangements in advance. I don't expect to solve the Kii problem completely without blood, but their reputation for being rigid has spread far and wide.

"It's inevitable that opinions will be different, but it's hard to say whether they can be used!" Tsuda Zonghe pouted with a bitter face, and when it came to these fellow villagers, he was also a lawsuit. "When the Kuomintang seized the Hatakeyama family's territory in Kii, although it was a separate act of each family, there was some echo between them, and their respective forces were not enough to resist the powerful forces from outside. Later, when resisting the attack of the Miyoshi family and the right general, they also mostly advanced and retreated together to help each other. Now these things are not far away, and most of the people in charge are still alive, so it is unlikely that something that will happen to stab you in the back! ”

I'm a little bit restless, and based on past experience, internal flowering is the best way to do it, but although things have deviated a little from my habits, I still have to do it, so I have to use the hard-hitting method that I don't like the most. "So what is the influence of the Ichijo sect in Kii?" I continued to ask.

"Although there is no direct rule, nominally all the people of the country are under the control of Honganji!" This time it was the still water ghost fox who answered, after all, as a monk, he knew more about the affairs of Buddhism. "The reason why the people of the country acted so unanimously when the Hatakeyama family was in decline was instigated by Honganji, and the money and weapons they had at the time of the initial incident also came from Ishiyama. Kii's people have never been tolerated by the great forces of all directions, and the only one who treats them and can give them a reasonable name is Buddhism! Therefore, the people of Kii and Honganji are interdependent and mutually reinforcing, and unless absolute control of Kii has been obtained, it is impossible to completely eradicate the Ichijo sect. ”

"That's ...... That's good! "I secretly gritted my teeth. As long as Honganji still has military strength, we must not compromise with them! Oda Nobunaga and I share the same view on this issue. Once the religious forces have raised their heads in secular affairs, it will not be easy to suppress them. Since they don't take the initiative to sever their relationship with Honganji, then everything is relatively simple. If they are reluctant to be the same sect, then wait for me to get out together! "You act as soon as possible, I await the news of your victory!" Although they secretly made up their determination to step up military deployments, on the surface, they still wanted to encourage the two of them.

"Back to my lord, Lord Yamanaka has just arrived with an army!" Sakurai Sakichi reported outside again.

"The lord is busy with official business, so let's leave first!" Still Water Fox hurriedly said.

"Okay!" I smiled and nodded slightly.

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

Two days before I left Kyoto, I sent a letter to Tango, ordering Takenaka Hanbei to send a general with thousands of troops to Izumi, and to cooperate with Hori Hidemasa and Nakamura Kazushi to stabilize the situation in advance.

On the fifth day, I wrote back, and Takenaka Hanbei said that Yamanaka Kanosuke, who had just returned to me, strongly requested this task, and that he also thought that Kanosuke was more suitable than Kor Hide, and asked me what to do. I reply yes.

After the Niko brothers were released, I gave Yamanaka Kanosuke and the others the freedom of the old Niko, and sent them back to their old owners with a lot of money. However, while I was waiting for Oda Nobunaga in Kyoto, I received news that Kanosuke and about two dozen other famous Niko generals had returned. The letter is very concise, and the details can only be explained by the person concerned.

"Yamanaka Shikanosuke Yusheng, meet the lord!" Dressed in armor, Yamanaka Kanosuke took off the antlers and helmet on his head, placed it beside him, and then knelt on the ground and bowed deeply.

"You...... You haven't ...... "me" and "you" for a long time and you haven't come out for a reason, and I really don't know where to start with this matter.

"Kanosuke and the others have been transferred to the Zhuxing Gate as Princess Xue's courtiers, and I hope the lord will take more care of them!" Yamanaka Kanosuke said this with his head bowed, and I could not see the expression on his face, nor could I tell whether he was excited, sad, or lonely.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked endlessly. For me, it's hard to imagine that someone like Kanosuke Yamanaka would change his mind so inexplicably.

"This is a decision made by His Highness Yoshihisa!" There was a hint of bitterness on Yamanaka's Kanosuke's face, but it was full of determination. "His Highness Yoshihisa summoned me alone and said to me: 'It is impossible for today's Nizi to return to the time of His Highness Jingjiu, and the troubled times are coming to an end, but it can never be in the hands of Nizi. Today, Nizi and the stars are linked. When the stars perish, the Nizi family cannot exist alone; On the contrary, even if the Nizi family is destroyed again, it will definitely be able to revive. If the Hoseshi family is prosperous and powerful, whether it is the right general Oda as the lord or the Mori family as an enemy, if you want to move the Niko family, you will be afraid of the position of the stars. If the stars perish, the Nizi family, as an accessory, will not be tolerated by others. Instead of desperately maintaining the Nizi family as a branch and leaf, it is better to protect the Xingjia as a rhizome! That's what all of us think, so for all of this, I'm here to please! With that, he bowed down again.

"Okay, welcome back!" I don't need to say anything more, and I don't need to have any more doubts. "You immediately lead your 3,000 men to the southern border of Izumi, and be ready to enter Kii at any time. Until my new order arrives, you are to stock up on as much food as you can, as your food route may be cut off at any time after entering Kii......"