When I returned to the camp, Takenaka Hanbei came to tell me that Takakei Kobayakawa had arrived, the representative of the Mori family. I thought about it for a while, and asked someone to treat him well, and after a day's rest, let Ikeda Hengxing see him first. After all, Ikeda is nominally the commander of the combined army, and I am just a mediator from Kyoto.

Over the next two days, the coalition forces launched several more attacks on Miki Castle in batches, each time committing about 15,000 men. In fact, this kind of action is just to continue to strengthen a momentum, and I personally hope that the "monkey" can last another ten days and a half months.

On the afternoon of the third day, near dinner, I received Takakei Kobayakawa in my tent, which was not too large. The talks took place in a cordial and friendly atmosphere, at least at the beginning.

"Meet Your Highness the Stars!" Kobayakawa Takakei is also over fifty, but his spirit is still very vigorous, and there is a heroic spirit in his elegance. I don't know if you've seen some high-level intellectuals around you who love sports, but Takakei Kobayakawa gives me such a feeling at the moment. "I haven't seen His Highness Zhuxing in a few years, his demeanor is even better, sweeping the mountains and rivers in the universe, and the martial arts of the Zhuxing family are so prosperous, I really want to congratulate you!" As he spoke, he bowed to me, but his back was straight and his waist was bent down.

"This may be what people often say, 'the tiger will not fall'!" I muttered to myself, my eyes wandering up and down on him, hoping to find some traces of my lack of confidence.

The Mori family is a hodgepodge of large and small wealthy families in the western region, and the members of the same large banner have considerable autonomy, just like the system of "Mori as the body and two rivers as the wings", which is almost impossible to exist in other million-stone daimyos. However, this is similar to the composition of the Yakura and Muromachi shogunates, and I even wondered if the ambitious Maori family was making some kind of preparations in advance!

I looked at him like this for a long time, and I didn't speak, to the point of being extremely rude. Not to mention that it is a guest who comes to visit, it is also inappropriate for your own family to do this. However, Kobayakawa Takakei was at ease, not feeling uncomfortable at all, and even his eyes did not change in the slightest, and I even suspected that he had ever practiced zazen. This is not surprising at all, and many of the Japanese aristocracy have deep attainments in tea, Zen, and poetry.

"His Royal Highness Kobayakawa has worked hard all the way, we are old acquaintances, so we don't have to be so polite!" Only then did I signal Obenmaru to bring the tea, but I didn't see the interest of reuniting old friends, but on the contrary, it seemed a little aggrieved. "His Royal Highness Kobayakawa must have seen everything he should have seen in the past few days, I don't know what else to do?" I asked over tea.

"Yes, I've met a few of them!" Kobayakawa Takakei nodded unpretentiously in acknowledgement. "However, Long Jing is here this time to make a special trip to meet His Highness Zhuxing, and the others can't see the original between the two, so they can't talk about any plans!"

"The main general here is His Highness Ikeda, please don't make a mistake about this, His Highness Kobayakawa!" I slyly played a little trick.

"Who is this coalition attacking?"

"Yes...... It's Hideyoshi Hashiba! "I was a little surprised by this question from him.

"That's it!" Kobayakawa Takakei gassho said yes. "Since the coalition forces are attacking Yuchai, then it has nothing to do with the Maori family, so what's the point of me not seeing the commander here? If I had met the commander of the Nizi army, it would have been reasonable, otherwise it would have been a matter of etiquette. Your Highness, don't you say? ”

"Ahem, ahem......" I bowed my head slightly, coughing to hide my embarrassment. Originally, I wanted to squeeze him, but I didn't want to end up trapping myself.

This time, since it was the Maori family who took the initiative to send an envoy here, and it was such a high-standard envoy, then I wanted to take more initiative in this regard, and satirize their impulsive attitude, but I didn't want to be caught by him all at once.

The Maori clan had never publicly responded to Yushiba's call from the beginning to the end, so attacking the Niko clan could only be regarded as a territorial dispute between local daimyos, and it was normal for anyone to win and who would lose in this case, so it would not be surprising to find a reputable person to mediate at a certain stage. Since it is the Maori family that has nothing to do with Yuchai, then it has nothing to do with the rebellion, and it has nothing to do with Shuntui and rebellion, so what reason does the coalition have to continue to advance westward after the destruction of Yuchai?

Of course, everyone can see the distant echo between the Maori family and the "monkey", and it is natural for another person to directly denounce it to his face. But if I say that, doesn't it mean that I admit that I arranged the affairs of Kyushu, Shikoku, and even? What face do I have to be this mediator? So anyone can say this kind of revelation of the truth, but I can't say it. And since I can take the place of the imperial court to pacify the situation in Western, there is also a reason to mediate the conflict between the Maori family and the Nizi family, and the Maori family does not need to be inferior to me for this.

"Awesome!" This was the first feeling I had from the bottom of my heart, that even though the Maori family was not full of celebrities, at least I had not found any obvious waste, which could not but be said to be a favor of God. "What can I do, haven't Miki City been fighting for so many days?" I pretended to be helpless and pointed out, and there was indeed a sound of siege shouts, but it was not very intense.

"The prestige of His Highness Zhuxing has its own public opinion in the world, and how can it be the words of my Maori family!" Takakei Kobayakawa stared at me with blazing eyes, not at all like a defeated general who had come to sue for peace. In a sense, the Maori family is indeed not defeated, but in terms of the general trend of the world, they have fallen into a desperate situation.

"If the Maori family wants me to intervene, what conditions are they willing to accept?" I decided to cut to the chase and I didn't seem to be his match when it came to playing with words.

I remember a long time ago when I played a certain game, Kobayakawa Takashi had two values that were top-notch, the water army and diplomacy, but for some congenital reason, the water army he never won me, diplomacy I understand today.

"Since I'm here to ask you, it's natural to listen to your advice first!" He still said without humility or arrogance.

"Is it okay to give up the reserve?" I stared into his eyes.

"Yes!" He replied immediately without hesitation.

"And what about Bigo?" I continued to ask.

"No problem!" He nodded again.

"This incident has a wide impact and a great impact!" I didn't see anything I expected to see, so I just lowered my head and picked up the teacup in front of me. There was an upside-down tea stalk floating on the water, and I puffed out my lips and blew it. "In order to have an explanation for all aspects, it is appropriate for the imperial court to take back Zhou Fang, An Yun and Iwami!"

"This ...... All right! ”

The corners of my mouth tilted up behind the teacup, and I finally heard what I wanted, the best I had expected, and it finally achieved its goal. If the Mori family did not agree to this request, they would have to send troops even if they were reluctant, but then the plan to conquer the eastern kingdom would have to be postponed, and after a while, it was possible that the situation would change. The so-called "you can't have both", and now this result is the most satisfactory for me, but the verbal resolution may not be implemented in reality, and some supplementary means are needed.

"I wonder if this meaning can represent the mainstream opinion of the Maori family, can His Royal Highness Huiyuan accept it?" I asked in a flat voice, but my tone didn't bring out the true emotions in my heart.

"Since I've said it today, then the Maori family won't go back!" Kobayakawa Takakei's expression is still calm and confident, but I feel a little bit sad. "If I go back and am questioned at my Māori home, then I will be disemboweled. But even so, this agreement will still be implemented to the letter! ”

"Okay, it's worthy of His Royal Highness Kobayakawa of the Maori family's 'half the sky'!" I couldn't help but pin my hands and praise, both for the courage of Takakei Kobayakawa and for the courage of Mori Terumoto. Although it is an alliance under the castle that endures humiliation, the Maori family shows an alternative style in their own way. "If the imperial court's edict is more severe, I wonder how His Highness will respond?" I was really curious about where the bottom line of the Maori family was, so I couldn't help but ask.

"Presumably, His Highness Zhuxing can also guess, and there will definitely be a discussion within the Maori family before I come!" Kobayakawa Takakei actually laughed when he heard my words, and he actually laughed at this time. "For more than 300 years, the Maori family has not experienced more difficult difficulties before. We do not lack the perseverance to endure humiliation, nor do we spare life and blood, so as long as we can bear it, we will wait for the day of revival again, even if it will take generations; Once the family and country no longer exist, then where can the sixty-six countries in the world not become our place to fight? ”

"If the Maori family can have this mentality, then the court can rest assured!" I suddenly lost interest in this issue, and even felt a little gloomy in my heart. "For a name like the Maori family, the court will still rely on it in many ways in the future, I don't know how His Royal Highness Huiyuan wants to show his deference to the court?" I asked.

This time, Kobayakawa Takakei took out two pieces of paper from his arms and leaned over to me to hand them over.

According to my vague memory, the next head of the Maori family in history, Xiuyuan, was not the biological son of Huiyuan, but I really can't remember where he came from. Kobayakawa Takakei's list contains the names of 19 people written at length, and according to the introduction, they are all very important figures in the second and third generations of the Mori family, and if it is not a "fake", then the sincerity of the Mori family can still be believed.

"I must want to convey this meaning to the court, so let's stop here today!" I raised my hand and pressed my forehead to indicate that I was a little tired.

"Then I'll take my leave!" Kobayakawa stood up and saluted.

"We must break the balance of 'Maori and two rivers'!" I took my hand down and stared at that back, and I said to myself in my heart.