Early the next morning, my family set off for Katsura Kawaguchi Castle in more than 30 ox carts, and many things were not prepared in time, and it seemed that they were in a hurry. However, Xianzhi was very determined, and said: But most of the day's journey, just send someone to pick it up at any time!

There are many things that are easier said than done! As I watched the last ox cart turn the corner, my heart was tugged at by an invisible rope. What is the king's plan to dominate the industry, what shocks the past and the present, after the dazzling glory is often unimaginable tears for ordinary people, there is nothing in the world that can be obtained without paying a price.

When you go back to the house that has become cold all of a sudden, it's honestly hard to get used to quickly. After having lunch with Tiger Chiyo, I went to take a nap in advance, and now I'm waiting for news from all sides.

In the afternoon, I came along, and a 100,000 urgent express appeared in front of me, which recorded what happened in Kyushu: the dispute between Kyushu Shimazu and Otomo escalated further, and more forces were involved!

Because Takenaka Hanbei couldn't leave Shikoku, I then handed over the mediation of Kyushu to Keiji Maeda, which is neither surprising nor a secret, after all, he is the only one who is the most suitable to visit Kyushu. Speaking of which, Keiji Maeda was the first retainer to follow me, and in addition to the late Nagano Yoshimasa, even Takenaka Hanbei was slightly inferior in terms of leadership qualifications. Moreover, as a chaotic local administrator like Kii, his rule should have a certain level, at least it should not further worsen the situation in Kyushu.

However, the outcome of the incident was far from expected, and Keiji Maeda took a very simple and crude approach to the incident. Before they had even left the inner house, they issued a strong order to the Shimazu family: immediately withdraw from all disputed areas and disband the troops of the vassal nobles who had already been mobilized! Naturally, the Shimazu family was extremely dissatisfied with this method of disposal and protested, but Maeda Keiji insisted on his original opinion.

Maeda Keiji's approach naturally caused a great shock in Kyushu, because of the geographical relationship, Nishikoku and Shikoku also quickly got the news, and all the "well-intentioned" people were speculating: Is this Maeda Keiji's own assertion, or is it from my instructions?

Although most people are still waiting, some people who are closer can't help it, and Yoshisuke Ito is the first. The Ito family was originally closely related to the Ouchi family, and the grievances with the Shimazu family were not a day or two, but this time with the support of Maeda Keiji came to the momentum, and all the standing troops were driven to the border between Hyuga and Osumi, forming a distant echo with the Ouchi family.

The development of the situation seems to be more and more unfavorable for the Shimazu family, who have not yet recovered from the losses in the last battle, and are immediately facing such tremendous pressure again. Naturally, the four Shimazu brothers were not people who were waiting to be killed, and they quickly strengthened their combat preparations while sending people to Beijing to make a statement. However, I did not give any public response, and this became a new "crime" in the eyes of Maeda Keiji.

There is a saying that seems to be "God is hungry and immortal blind Qiaoer (sparrow)"! Just when the Shimazu family was in internal and external difficulties, several hands unexpectedly reached out to them. Originally, Omura, Nabeshima, Arima and others who had met with the Shimazu family several times ago made their stand on the side of the Shimazu family.

Interests, this is an eternal theme in the field of politics! The Ouchi family moved across Higo and Hizen, and had a dispute with Omura and many of the wealthy families of the old Hizen clan. Although it wasn't as stiff as the Shimazu family's side, it was not so happy in my heart, and I started talking about things with the problems of the Shimazu family. Although Nabeshima and Arima have left Hizen, there are still many implicated branches left there, so they quickly intervened after Omura's statement.

The three families that originally belonged to the first line of the Ryuzo Temple are not a great force in Kyushu, but together they are remarkable, and most of the small and medium-sized wealthy families in Northern Kyushu act according to the eyes of these three families, and they suddenly flatten the comparison of each other's strength.

Maeda Keiji's temper is not very good, and now as my acting officer in charge of Kyushu, he encounters such a faceless thing, so he is naturally furious. At this time, he had just left the inner palace not far away, and when he heard that the three alliances and the wealthy clans of Kitakyushu wanted to impeach him, he immediately turned around. He chose the nearest Arima Harunobu of Bunzen Nakatsu, and started fighting directly without saying anything, and asked Yamanaka Kanosuke in Chikuzen to send troops to cooperate with him. However, Yamanaka Kanosuke was naturally not so impulsive, and wrote back to dissuade him from staying calm.

Keiji Maeda's relocation was just halfway through, but the people at the front were all elite soldiers, and in addition to a large number of Kii's strong countrymen, there were also many backbone middle- and lower-level retainers who followed me in the San'in and even Owari periods. In the face of such a force, the small Arima family was naturally difficult to resist, and they were beaten to the point of losing their armor.

Omura and Nabeshima also began to mobilize men and horses to move towards Toyozen, but they did not agree to the method of completely tearing their faces, but only assisted Arima Harunobu to shrink and defend Nakatsu and other cities and refused to fight, wanting to consume it first. In their opinion, the current behavior of Keiji Maeda can only be regarded as his personal behavior, and it will not be decided until my official order.

Keiji Maeda is also a battle-hardened general, and he knows that a strong attack at this time will only cause heavy losses to himself, so although the battle is already ongoing, the progress has slowed down.

Unexpectedly, the dispute that originally started in the south was first moved in the north, and Otomo and Shimazu, who had lost the participation of other forces, calmed down and stared at each other in the same place. Now, I don't seem to know what to do!

"Ha, ha! …… Ha, ha, ha! "That night, I was looking through the information gathered from all over the world, and after reading the analysis of the situation in Kyushu twice, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Father, what's wrong with you?" Chiyo Toragi, who was sitting on the side, was taken aback by my "abnormality".

"Look at this!" I handed him the report, and he took it with both hands and looked at it carefully. "The princes of a country may not be much smarter than the village husband and foolish woman, and the more people on the opposite side of the two are coaxed, the more difficult it is to ride a tiger. Now that the two sides who support them suddenly start to move, they themselves are stunned and don't know what to do. The person who originally persuaded the fight threw himself into it on impulse, but he didn't know that the owner himself didn't really have the determination to fight! ”

Tora Chiyo read it carefully, then folded it back to my desk. "So many daimyo are just puppets on your left or right hand, I'm afraid this is the funniest thing in the world!" He replied.

"Oh, that's true!" I nodded, thinking that this was indeed the case. It's not surprising to me that he has such an insight, and I've been keeping him by my side these days. "Although this is true at the moment, there is nothing complete in this world, or because we are all mortals. Although I choreographed this all-encompassing drama (there was no director at this time), it may not be out of my control at an unexpected moment. So no matter what time it is, even if you feel like you have a firm grip on the victory, you still have to stay vigilant! ”

"Yes, Father!" Tora Chiyo agreed, and then asked, "Then His Royal Highness Yuchai, could it be the reason for this variable?" ”

"It doesn't look like it as it stands, but it's not necessarily impossible!" I know he's referring to the letter that Hideyoshi Hashiba sent out two days ago, and I'm satisfied that he can think of these questions.

When I was facing "internal and external difficulties", the "monkey" finally couldn't help but make a move. That is, on October 16 of the ninth year of Tensho (1581), Yushiba Hideyoshi raised 30,000 troops to the east of Himeji Castle, and at the same time issued a message to the world: Crusade against Tokugawa Ieyasu, who turned his back on the Oda family, and the wealthy clan west of the Oda family Sekigahara will meet in Kyoto, and join along the way east of Sekigahara! This move shocked the whole world, because he was not authorized by the governor of the Oda family in Gibu.

Not to mention other people's reactions, at least my heart is not as calm as it seems. It's all about to begin, about where the world belongs!

"Do you think His Highness Yuchai's behavior is a wise move?" I looked down and flipped through the document that had been sent an hour earlier, and asked in a deliberately bland tone.

"This is the best time in terms of the military posture of both sides, although nominally it is a little worse, but it is easy to remedy!" He thought for a moment and then said, not blindly patting the sycophants.

"Theoretically, but as I said: everything is an accident!" I picked one out of the paper in my hand, looked at it, and handed it to him. "I just sent it, you can take a look at it too!"

"Takayama Shigetomo and Nakagawa Kiyohide refused to allow the Hashiba Army to pass through their territory, this is not ...... It's not ......" Tiger Chiyo was dumbfounded after reading it, and even a child's intelligence could judge the madness in it.

"You're looking for death, aren't you?" I took a sip of the teacup, then laughed twice and said, "This may seem like a minor problem to His Royal Highness Yuchai, but many disastrous consequences start with some minor problems!" ”

"Father, are you going to directly support Takayama and Nakagawa?" Toragiyo asked a little nervously, as if he had heard a tight conch.

"It's not time yet!" To his surprise, I shook my head unequivocally. "Even if Hideyoshi Hashiba is openly my enemy, I may not raise an army to attack him. And it seems to me that all this is just the beginning, and many of the 'links' in the middle have not happened, and it is far from the time when I should come forward! ”

"If the others don't deserve it, then ...... So what to do? Tora Chiyo understood my intentions a little, but still asked very worriedly.

"Tora Chiyo, I'm going to tell you something!" I put down my teacup and said very seriously. "Don't think of everyone else as stupid, especially when there are huge interests involved. So when you start planning, you have to think very smart about them and act in the smartest way possible! ”

"My lord, Your Excellency Konoe and Your Excellency Haruyou, Persuasion Temple, are here to visit!" Sakurai knocked on the next door outside to report for duty.

"See!" I pointed out the door with my folding fan and said, "Here comes the smart man, and there is more than one." Don't worry, the rest will continue to pop up! ”