It was not only Katagiri Kazumoto who went to explain the incident to Tokugawa Ieyasu Kazumoto, but also Osamu Ohno's mother, the Ōzo Bureau.

The Ōzo Ōkusai is the side room of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the nurse of Yododen. The reason why Ohno Zhicheng was able to become the core figure of the Toyotomi family's retainers group is probably inseparable from her.

He can be said to be the most trusted person around Yododen. And with her, among the Toyotomi retainers, Katagiri and Moto, who are more capable.

After all, the owner is one of the 7 guns of Zhiyue. And in the Battle of Sekigahara more than ten years ago, there was no eyebrow between Yasuharu Wakisaka and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Although the frequency of his eye-to-eye exchanges with Tokugawa Ieyasu has reached an unsafe point now, Toyotomi Hideyori wants to use this incident to test his loyalty.

Tokugawa Ieyasu was not in his own retreat at this time, but in Edo Castle. The new governor of the Tsushima clan brought him guests from the Ming Dynasty.

If it was just a little kid who took office, he didn't need to be old to deal with it, and this kind of small matter could be handled by his son Tokugawa Hidetada, but with an extra group of guests from the Ming Dynasty, it would be impossible not to arouse his curiosity.

Although Katagiri and Yuan had also arrived at Edo Castle and were waiting for Tokugawa Ieyasu to receive him at any time, Tokugawa Ieyasu still gave priority to meeting this guest from the Ming Dynasty, he was none other than Li Chunfang, who was chased by Kangning and others on the Jiaodong Peninsula.

"Li Jun, welcome to the Wa Kingdom." Tokugawa Ieyasu's kindness was beyond Li Chunfang's expectations, "I heard that when you were in the Ming Kingdom, you were hunted down by hostile forces, so he came to us for refuge. In that case, please stay with me in peace. I will give you an official position to boast about, and I will give you real power. Of course, you'll have to do your best to serve the Emperor and the shogunate. ”

Li Chunfang didn't expect that Dechuan Ieyasu would throw out his conditions so directly, he originally thought that the two sides would test each other. was able to start substantive negotiations, but unexpectedly, Tokugawa Ieyasu suddenly gave a price that was acceptable to both parties.

"The general is really a cheerful man. Since you are such a villain, if I refuse, I will be too ignorant. What will the general command in the future? Please don't hesitate to tell the villain. The villain has recently become a lost dog, thanks to the general's refusal to give up, there is a place to live, such a great kindness, like reconstruction. In the coming day, I will go to the soup and fire to repay the general. ”

Tokugawa Ieyasu chuckled, and this was the result he wanted.

Whether it is an official position or real power, he did not lie. When he came to the Tokugawa shogunate, he wasn't going to find a group of idlers to raise him.

As for the usefulness of Li Chunfang, Tokugawa Ieyasu had already thought about it. Yoshikui rebellions that appear from time to time throughout the country, from hearing about a great husband like Oda Nobunaga. There is nothing to be done. And he, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Sichuan did not have the ability to resist a nationwide rebellion.

So. He needs a group of people to balance the Yoshikui. Li Chunfang, who also uses secret sects similar to Buddhism to control the congregation, has become a good choice for him.

On this issue, the choice he made was actually the same as Boss Huang, but it was different in the choice of employing people, Boss Huang chose Corning, while Tokugawa Ieyasu. They all chose Li Chunfang, who is backed by you.

Li Chunfang was a little surprised by such an arrangement, he would have thought that his act of spreading the teachings would be restricted by Tokugawa Ieyasu. He had heard about it when he came. Even the former Catholic Church has now begun to be gradually restricted, let alone him.

But Tokugawa Ieyasu did not do so, and the reason he gave was that the peasants who had used their secrets to start a rebellion against us had only gradually disappeared from the stage of history, and it seemed that they could not pose a threat to his Tokugawa shogunate.

Then it seems a little unnecessary for him to do so.

Today, Li Chunfang didn't know the true thoughts of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and when Katagiri and Yuan came here, they had already contacted Tokugawa Ieyasu through secret channels, and brought him the recent movements of the Toyotomi family, including some movements of Kangning and Boss Huang. Tokugawa Ieyasu was furious when he learned that they were going to launch a military operation against the strategically important island of Awaji, but he was now helpless. He originally thought that he could use the Fangguangji incident to find a reason to crusade against the Toyotomi family in Osaka City. As long as he is famous, then the daimyo in various parts of the country, even Date Masamune and others, who have two ambitions for themselves, cannot find an excuse to refuse to send troops.

But now the situation is a little different, and the excuse he knows has just come out, Toyotomi Hideyori, that milky little hairy boy, came in and brazenly invaded the territory of the neighboring country. This is directly not giving him face.

The more serious problem was that the other daimyos, seeing that Toyotomi Hideyori could launch such a fierce offensive, would inevitably doubt the Tokugawa family's ability to win the decisive battle that followed. In this way, it is very likely that there will be so many disobedient daimyo who will directly refuse his order to recruit troops.

If such a thing happens, it will inevitably affect the number of troops he can mobilize in the war.

This is very unfavorable for the decisive battle that is about to begin.

Moreover, another piece of news secretly passed by Katagiri and Yuan proved that Toyotomi Hideyori had an additional advisor named Kangning by his side. He was obviously a Ming countryman, and with him came a group of refugees.

Tokugawa Ieyasu already knew that Kangning was also a person like Li Chunfang, who used secret sects to control the congregation. And the strength he showed was already in the offensive and defensive battle of Awaji Island, which made all the princes refreshed.

That's not a good sign. Because according to the intelligence of the Tsushima family, this Kang Ning was the one who drove Li Chunfang out of the Jiaozhou Peninsula.

If you want to deal with such a person, the only way you can take in the end is to fight poison with poison, although Li Chunfang is his defeated subordinate, but Togawa Ieyasu has no choice. And he also believed that according to the ability and financial resources of his shogunate, he could fully support Li Chunfang to turn defeat into victory.

As for Li Chunfang personally, he also has the desire to take revenge.

In this way, as long as Kang Ning organizes a force similar to Yi Kui, he will release Li Chunfang, a chess piece that has been prepared a long time ago. It's just this step of the plan, and it's not convenient to tell Li Chunfang now. Tokugawa Ieyasu wasn't sure to what extent this guy was afraid of the man named Kanning. (To be continued.) )