Chapter 152: The Struggle of Situations (I)

Bichu Matsuyama Castle is located in Kamibo County in central Bigoku, and the rest of the prefecture's branches have been conquered by our side before Keishige's battle, leaving only Kawakami Tsuru Castle to the west of Matsuyama Castle, which is still in the hands of the Hoida family, barely maintaining the communication channel between Bichu Matsuyama Castle and Bigo Province. This castle is backed by Tsuru Mountain, and it is the residence of the three village families before they pacified the entire Bichu and vigorously increased the construction of Matsuyama Castle, and it is much stronger than the rest of the branch cities. Therefore, Hosokawa Shinyuki specially convened a military council to make arrangements for the city's strategy. The rest of the Iyo were in charge of monitoring Matsuyama Castle, while the eight thousand Tosa were deployed at Mijo Castle at the northern end of Aga-gun, guarding the direction of the Hino River valley to prevent Yoshikawa Motoharu from going south to rescue the Hoida family.

Returning to Bichuku from Kira Castle, Fujido Takatora carried out the order to the letter, and led the Tosa people to clean up the eastern part of Aga-gun, Teta-gun, and Kamibo County, almost turning this area into a dead land. After a day of deliberation, the Hoida family also chose to obey my instructions and exterminate the Aga-gun Mi family (a descendant of the Fujiwara clan) and the Kawakami-gun Hirakawa clan (a descendant of the Sasaki clan) involved in the incident, and then handed over Matsuyama Castle to Hosokawa Shinyuki and moved to Tsuru Castle as a branch city.

Forced down the Hoiida family and led the people of the Three Kingdoms to enter Matsuyama Castle, which should be a glorious moment in Hosokawa Shinyuki's life. However, he sent Kume Yoshitoyo to Kira Castle again to ask me for permission to resign as the general of Shikoku and the head of the Hosokawa family.

"His Majesty was able to control the Awa country as a puppet, and revived the Awa Hosokawa family business, thanks to the support of the Taichang Gong, and now he has been given the gift of Sanki a country, and the command of the four powers, should be grateful, and serve the Taichang Gong wholeheartedly, so as to live up to this kindness. Helplessly, his subordinates are old, and he often feels that he has not had enough energy recently, and he is gradually unable to do anything. Therefore, I hope that the prince of Taichang will allow his subordinates to retire from office and retire, and from then on he will travel freely in the mountains and rivers for the rest of his life, and his ministers will not be very grateful. ”

After reading the letter, I casually put it in my hand and fell silent.

In terms of age, Hosokawa Shinyuki is only two years older than me, and now he is less than forty-five. At his age, of course, he can retire, and I even once thought so, but considering that Jingzhi was still young, he handed over Sanki Province to his Hosokawa family in advance. However, now that he has four forces in his hands and is facing an unprecedented battle, I am afraid that no samurai is willing to step down and retire at this time. And he is so resolute, it is estimated that he feels guilty because of Jingzhong's matter, and hopes to be able to take part of the responsibility.

"How about you go back and tell His Highness Sanki Shou and ask him to think about it again?" I looked at Kume Yoshitoyo and said, "On the side of Bichu, you still need to borrow the power of His Highness Sanki Shou!" ”

"The head of the family knows that with the character of the main hall that values love and righteousness, he will definitely say something to save it," Kume Yoshitoyo owes himself, "Therefore, before sending this letter, the head of the family has entrusted military affairs to Iyo's Komuna Ibu Hidemasa (Ah Wei Cho, Hidekei Yo), Sanuki's Kagawa Keinobu (originally worshiped Nobunaga and was called Shinkage, but after the promulgation of the Eisada Law, he converted to his own family and worshiped the lord of the family), and Awa's Miyoshi Yasunatoshi (pro-Oda Miyoshi Yasunagayuki) three ...... The head of the family also said that His Royal Highness Kii Jingo (Zhou Jing) was both civil and military, and he was deeply respected by the public, and he could completely dominate the four countries or the entire South China Sea, and he was definitely more competent than the head of the family. Now is the critical moment for the main family to enter the world, and he is about to rely on the relatives in the family, so he dares to recommend His Royal Highness Jin Wu to take his place, hoping that the main hall can think about it. ”

"I'll consider Mamoru Sanki's opinion," I thought for a moment, and finally nodded, "Since Mamoru Sanki insists on doing so, then I'll agree!" You go back and tell him that I will apply for the official position of the four Shimokyo doctors for him, and show the world the loyalty of the Awa Hosokawa family and himself to the imperial court. In addition, I hope that he will be my royal companion, so that I can continue to borrow from his virtues. ”

"This is a great honor for this family and its master! As a retainer, the subordinate also feels honored! Kume Yoshitoyo lowered his head happily, "Your Majesty must really convey this kindness of the main hall to the head of the family!" ”

"Well, let's go." I bowed slightly.

When Kume Yoshitoyo left, I looked at Hosokawa Shinyuki's letter again. Although I promised to consider his suggestion, I have decided that I will not let Zhou Jing go to China for the time being.

I know what Mayuki Hosokawa means. It's no secret that Zhou Jing was deliberately suppressed by me at home, and even Hideyoshi knew about it. And the Kii country where he is located has always been a marginal area, once used as a place for the imperial court to exile the minister, and at the same time a refuge for many sinners, and transferring him there is already a kind of snub in the eyes of many people. Therefore, Hosokawa Shinyuki suggested that I use Zhou Jing, who fought side by side with Zhou Jing many times in Tosa, and admired Zhou Jing's ability and character.

Just yesterday, Zhou Jing himself sent someone to send a letter of request, saying that the country is stable, and the lotus pond and the song have been useless for a long time, and I hope I can allow him to lead his troops to the expedition, whether it is to prepare for China or to go to An Yunguo. Obviously, when he heard the news that his half-brother Jingzhong was attacked and killed, with his humble character, he couldn't help but feel depressed and indignant!

In that case, it's time for him to give him a swing. I handed over the lotus pond and the waka two preparations to him, and it was not a waste of military funds in the first place. As for Kii, it is also not useless, and if you ignore this country, you will definitely have to learn a very serious lesson. Hatakeyama Takamasa, who fled that year, went out from Kii to Minami-Hanoi Province and opened the prelude to the destruction of Ashikaga Yoshiaki; Later, Kii's 30,000 people raided Ishiyama Honganji Temple and defeated Harada Naomasa's main camp, causing Nobunaga and I to suffer a big loss at the same time, and I still remember these two events to this day!

I quickly drafted an order and called Honda Masamune, who was on duty: "Send this order to Quanzhou Castle immediately, and ask His Royal Highness Youkyo to hand over the responsibility of guarding the city to Chang Xiuxing, and then go to Bichu with Asano-sama to preside!" ”

"Give Quanzhou City to ...... His Royal Highness Xiuxing? Honda confirmed to me in surprise.

"Yes, it's time for him to take some responsibility! Watching other people's shows, they have already made so many great achievements! I waved my hand, "He has followed His Royal Highness Youjing for many years, so he should have grown a little!" ”

……，……

While I was attacking the Maori family, Hideyoshi was naturally not idle. He reaffirmed the covenant with the Uesugi family and the Hojo family to stabilize the situation on his eastern front; He subdued Sanada Masayuki and placed him under the command of Kita-Shinano Mori Naga, and together with Hidetaka Kawajiri, he was in charge of the finishing strategy of the Takeda family and liberated the Tokugawa family.

When he was on the Suruga front, Tokugawa Ieyasu had seen the situation of Inobu Nao Tsuruga, and combined with my passive attitude earlier, I knew that I would not allow him to possess the three kingdoms of Mikawa, Enoe, and Suruga, and would not allow him to further expand his power. Therefore, he chose to support the Yura family, and was thus able to serve as Hideyoshi's general in the Tokaido area, and Hidero Hanara, the general in the northern 6th area, as Hideyoshi's two wings. Up to now, both sides are fierce soldiers, ready to compete with their own family.

Obviously, there was no room for the situation to turn around, and the previous battle of Minami Hanoi and the Battle of Seto Inland had pushed the two sides into the duel, and all the negotiations and trade-offs had lost their meaning, and only a decisive battle remained. And this decisive battle will obviously determine the ownership of the world.

Hideyoshi even once made a statement to the imperial court, hoping to declare the family an enemy of the court, so as to undermine the trust of the family. Unfortunately, I have always had an excellent reputation, and I was very generous to the imperial court and the public family, and I served as the elder of the Genji clan and the two powerful ministers, and I renovated the Imperial Palace, rebuilt the Sokokuji Temple, and most of the Kamikyo area...... Naturally, such a person could not be an enemy of the court, and the court and the public had extremely sufficient reasons and motives to refuse this request.

When the Hoida family was subdued, and Hideki went to prepare for China to host, Hideyoshi finally couldn't help it. He did his best to Harima, Tajima, Tanba, Settsu, and Yamashiro, and led the Northern Omi and Southern Omi people to lead the Northern Omi and Southern Omi tribes of Jingxiu as the vanguard, and then summoned the Northern 6 Province and Tokaido Legions to come to Kinai to help in the battle, preparing to take advantage of the opportunity of Xiujing's absence to first clear the big nail nailed in the Kini Castle, and then rest assured that he would have a decisive battle with his family.

Xiuxing has always been in charge of internal affairs, and he is not good at military affairs, although he is assisted by many family veterans, it is difficult to deal with Jingxiu, who has been in war for a long time, and he has lost several cities in a row. Fortunately, Quanzhou Castle is extremely strong, which is better than the former Ishiyama Honganji Temple, and there is also the support of the Fuba detachment at sea, and the Yura family has no way to take this city for a while.

In this era, there are not many ways to attack such a city, and the effective ones are to cut off water and food, hit morale, and counter the generals, and this is Hideyoshi's forte. Because of this, he will gather a heavy army, thinking of taking this city first. It's just that Quanzhou City is backed by the sea, and there is a steady stream of support from the naval army, so there is no problem with supplies and morale; If you rebel against the generals, Asano Nagamasa, who is related to him, has been transferred, and almost no one in the city has an Oda family background, and the people who preside over it are all genealogical generations of the original incense sect and my family, such as Mizutani, Kiyoi, and Tateyama. They have experienced the decline of the past few years, and they were once suppressed by the foreign Changzong family and could not turn over, it is rare that the lineage of the clan is so prosperous now, it is natural to follow it loyally, Hideyoshi wants to omit these genealogical clans, and it is obvious that he wants to kick the iron plate.

Time passed, and the strategy of Quanzhou City was still going on, and I finally waited for the messenger of the Maori family.

The messenger turned out to be Kobayakawa Takakei himself. It was also the first time I had met him. Hearing his common name, I couldn't help but look at him carefully, he was wearing a simple blue pine dress, wearing a black hat, his face was very dull and yellow, but his spirit was still good, his attitude was very calm, and his eyes were very calm, which roughly matched the image I imagined.

I nodded to him: "I didn't expect His Highness to come in person...... The name of His Royal Highness Zhongwu, I have been famous for a long time, and I am glad to see it today. ”

"Coming here is to represent the sincerity of the family," Takashi Kobayakawa said without being humble or arrogant, "Regarding the matter of His Royal Highness Kamikawa, the family is also very sorry. However, above the battle array, anything can be born, which is a helpless thing. However, Tai Changgong's revenge is really unkind, and it is extremely unfavorable to Tai Changgong's reputation. ”

"I'm in seclusion now, and my fame or something is just a cloud on the horizon!" My tone was very embarrassed, and at the same time there was a hint of threat, "Love is dying, whether it is from personal feelings or the dignity of my family, I must do something...... These things, Xinjing may not be convenient to do, and he can't do it, so I have to do it for him, which can be regarded as a waste of heat! ”

"I see," Kobayakawa Takakei nodded, and suddenly changed the subject, "So, how is Taichang Gong going to arrange the body of His Royal Highness Kamikawa, which is jointly guarded by the family and you?" Now that it is a hot summer, the earth is in full bloom, if you need to move the burial, I am afraid you have to hurry up. ”

This person is really a pot that can't be opened! I couldn't help but clench my fists, and I guess my face became extremely ugly. Jingzhong's death, Xiaoxia's abnormality, is the biggest sore spot in my life, although more than ten days have passed, but when I recall Jingzhong's voice and smile, I still can't let go. As for his body, I'm afraid it was hastily buried, and now it's already unrecognizable...... When I think of this, I can't help but feel heartache and chills, and I can't even face it at all, so I haven't made the decision to move the burial for a long time.

Now that I hear Takakei Kobayakawa say this, and then think about Natsu's situation, I can finally make up my mind.

"People say that they are buried in the ground, so they will be buried locally!" I tried to calm my mind, "Here in Tosa, I will have someone build a mounds and offering towers for him, but I don't have to bother with you." ”

Thinking that Jingzhong actually wanted to bury his bones in a foreign land, I couldn't help but feel gloomy again. However, the people of the samurai family were originally like this. Daisuke Imagawa, who was famous at the time, and his body and rank were buried near the barrel room; And Oda Taimasa, who defeated him, even had no bones left at all, and could only be replaced by wood carvings.

In order to avoid the uneasiness of the dead and the unbearable of the living, do not toss anything...... Thinking like this, I couldn't help but sigh.

"Understood, the family must cooperate effectively," Kobayakawa Takakei looked at me carefully, and let out a long sigh, bowing his body low, "So, how about asking Taichang Gong to announce the arrangements for the family now?" ”

"Hmm," I nodded, my tone shifting to stern, "His Highness is a smart man, so I won't say anything more." This time, the family mobilized nearly 200,000 troops, no matter what, there must be a suitable result, otherwise the war will have to continue, and the room for both sides will become smaller and smaller, until there is no turnaround...... Are you fully aware of this? ”r

【…… Chapter 152: The Battle of Situations ......]!!