"Yes. This book is from Xiao Xia nodded and said no more.

And my thoughts also flew to Chikuzen's Tenjin Mountain Castle. I wonder how Shinkyo will respond to Yoshitsugu Ohtani's request for help? However, I believe that after going through so many things, he will definitely be able to handle it properly, and there are so many retainers by his side.

It must be a very gratifying thing to see that there are successors to my career. At least, among the two opposing parties at the moment, whether it is Shibata Katsuya or Hideyoshi Yura, they will envy the children in my family who are gradually rising to the top.

I don't know what the reason is, but the major commanders of the former Oda family, except for me, the rest of the people are very withered under their knees. Shibata Katsu's family died early and left no heirs, so he could only accept several of his nephews as adopted sons; Yura Hideyoshi's family once had a single seedling Ishimatsu pill, but when he was three years old, he broke early, and now Jingxiu and Xiuji, who are expected to inherit the family business, have also passed the adopted son; Akechi Mitsuhide, who has been crusaded, has a few daughters, but he waited until he was in his forties to get an heir Shibei, and there was no Yuan Fu at the time of the change of Honnoji Temple (in history, it was already Yuan Fu, named Guangqing); Even Tokugawa Ieyasu, after Nobuyasu seppuku, only had one Yu Yoshimaru who was fifteen years younger than Nobuyasu and had a very low background, but fortunately, he was in his side room Saigo Bureau, and within a few months he gave birth to another son, but he was twenty years younger than Nobuyasu, and even more than a year younger than his current fiancée, Nobuyasu's second daughter, Kumahime.

In this era, if you want to have a prosperous family, it is also a very important condition to have many children. Sons other than heirs may set up separate families, or inherit other families as auxiliaries of the clan; Daughters can be used to marry and strengthen bonds and kinship with important ministers, allies, and even enemies. This is especially true when starting a family business. For example, the Maori family, the reason why it is so prosperous is very much due to the more than ten sons and daughters of Maori Yuan; On the other hand, Nizi Yoshihisa of the Nizi family, because he was afraid that Shingu Gu's uncle Nizi Kunihisa had many heirs, and he fought well in the family (called the Shingong Party, which was the elite of the Nizi family's army), so he wiped out all of them, which greatly damaged the vitality of the Niko family, and as a result, it soon went into decline.

If I were to compete with Hideyoshi, in addition to territory, wealth, and military power, I would obviously have an advantage in the matter of the heir. A while ago, he had been trying hard to win over Tokugawa Ieyasu, and when he heard that my adopted daughter Kumahime had a marriage contract with Takechiyo of the Tokugawa family, and she was fostered in the Tokugawa family, she had a headache for a while. As soon as he was born, Ieyasu arranged for the daughter of the Okabe family to marry (later the eldest grandmother) as his nursing mother, and now that he and Kumahime are married, the relationship between the two families is likely to be closer (just maybe). However, there were no girls in his family, so he didn't compete with Xiong Ji. Well, after thinking about it, he had no choice but to let his sister Asu, who married Farmer Owari, divorce her husband, and then ask Tokugawa Ieyasu himself to get married. In this regard, Tokugawa Ieyasu was naturally unwilling, and he spent a lot of money to bribe the imperial court to inherit the Tokugawa clan (also known as the Seryota clan) of the Nitta clan, and changed "de" to the word "de", and said that Tokugawa's son was a distant ancestor. But the Qin's family has been a monk since he was a child, and after returning to the world, he became the adopted son of the son-in-law of the Anxiang Matsudaira family and the sixth generation of the head of the family, in fact, he is not a member of the Tokugawa family, and it is not even clear whether he is from the Tokugawa family), and he became a descendant of the Qinghe Genji clan, how can he marry Axu who was once married to a farmer as the main family? Isn't that self-defeating? So he quickly politely declined Hideyoshi's proposal, which made Hideyoshi quite embarrassed for a while.

Although efforts to win over the Tokaido Chalk Tokugawa family had no effect for the time being, Hideyoshi's strategy on other fronts was very smooth. Higashimino Hidetaka Kawajiri was recruited by Hideyoshi in the name of Jishi Doll; Kanamori Nagami of Hida Province was close to him, because he had a territorial dispute with his sister Koji Yoritsuna, who was subordinate to the Oda family and placed under Sasa Naimasa, and Shibata Katsuya supported Yoritsuna's appeal in order to win over the sister Koji family and appease Sasa Narumasa, so Kanamori Nagaku took advantage of the situation to move closer to the neighboring Kawajiri Hidetaka and also threw himself into Hideyoshi's arms; Hideyoshi then sent people to brave the bitter cold from the port of Ohama in Wakasa to get in touch with Uesugi Keikatsu of Kasuga Mountain Castle, with the idea that "the half of the country of Vietaka will be taken by itself...... In order to pay (historically, it was Noto a country), it is said that Sasa Nari ...... moved him to contain Echichu, that is, before the war began, Hideyoshi had already contained the flank and rear of Shibata Katsuie, and the balance of victory had been heavily tilted in Hideyoshi's favor.

However, when it comes to Hideyoshi's biggest strategic achievement, it is Yoshikawa Motoharu in San'in. To be more precise, this should be regarded as the joint achievement of me and Hideyoshi, if it weren't for the many provocations of Mitsunari Futami and Yoshihiro Shimazu under my command, which made Yoshikawa Motoharu unbearable, he would probably listen to Takakei Kobayakawa's advice, even if he can't get closer to me, at least he will keep a certain distance from the Yura family, and he won't agree to cooperate because of Hideyoshi's promise to Inaba Ichikoku.

Agreeing to go out in concert and accepting the land is a very clear expression of position, and from this moment on, Yoshikawa Motoharu can be seen as an ally of Hideyoshi. And when Hideyoshi wins and takes control of the center of the Oda family, the diplomatic focus of the Mori family will definitely be tilted towards the Yura family, and Yoshikawa Motoharu will take over the diplomatic leadership from Kobayakawa Takakei because of the opening of this battle and the alliance between him and Hideyoshi, and then bring the entire Mori family into Hideyoshi's camp.

At that time, it will almost be a chance for a showdown with Hideyoshi.

Once I attacked the Mori family again from the direction of Kyushu, Hideyoshi had to break with me for the sake of his own prestige. After that, he either attacked the city of Quanzhou, which was extremely strong and supported by a powerful naval army, in order to contain my four forces; Or they can trek through mountains and rivers and cross half of today's chalk to go to Zhoufang and Nagato to support the Maori family. It is conceivable that these two things are very reluctant and difficult to do, and they are bound to drag down most of his military, financial and energy resources. And if there is a sudden fire in the backyard at this time, or something happens inside the Maori family, I wonder what his face will be?

Thinking of this, I suddenly felt a little looking forward to it.

……，……

The development of things is often not premised on human will, and no matter how good the plan is, it may encounter sudden changes.

Just as I was about to put the Mori family into Hideyoshi's camp in view of Yoshikawa Motoharu's imminent participation in the Battle of Shidake, and was about to use them as an opportunity to break with Hideyoshi, Kobayakawa Takakei suddenly sent someone over.

The envoy sent by Takakei was the younger brother of the Numata Kobayakawa family and the ancestor of the family, Kobayakawa Norihei.

For this most important pen head of Longjing, I naturally asked people to make a detailed investigation. His deeds can be traced back to the time when Takakei Kobayakawa inherited the Kobayakawa family. At that time, Takakei actually only inherited the other branch of the Takehara Kobayakawa family, and it had nothing to do with the Numata Kobayakawa family where Riko Yu Nobunpei was located, and the result was that he deeply felt that the Niko family was powerful, and the then head of the family, Kobayakawa Shihei, was weak and sick, so he actively moved closer to the strong Maori family, and mediated the marriage of Takakei and Shibunei's sister Wenda Dafang, and forced the head of the family to retire in the name of the Neitsu Niko family, so that the two branches of the Kobayakawa family, Takehara and Numata, could be united. Therefore, both Maori Yuan and Maori Longyuan valued this retainer very much and made him serve as Longjing's assistant; Kobayakawa Takakei's own personality and way of doing things were also deeply influenced by this old minister, although he was not in the center, and his status was not as good as that of Ankokuji Huiqiong, but given his closeness to Kobayakawa Takakei, he also had a significant influence in the foreign affairs of the Mori family.

This time, Kobayakawa Takakei sent Riko Yu Xuanpei to come, on the one hand, out of the importance of his own family, and on the other hand, out of helplessness. It is evident that his prestige as a Maori head has been severely frustrated by his repeated setbacks at my right hand and his tolerance of our provocations, and he has lost his diplomatic dominance.

In addition to this, Riko Yu Nobunpei also brought a fifteen-year-old young samurai named Kobayakawa Motoho (小早川秀包). He is the youngest son of Mori Motosa, and his mother is the stepfamily of Mori Motosa, and Naomi from the Kobayakawa Shuryu Nomi family is generous because Takakei has no heirs and passed under the name of Kobayakawa Takakei.

"The foreign minister is here to send the young master as a hostage,...... Riko Yu Xuanpei said respectfully, "Although His Royal Highness Yoshikawa Jibu promised to go out to support His Royal Highness Yura Chikuzen, it does not mean that my Maori family will follow the Yura family; As for the covenant with the Kira family, the family also attaches great importance to ......, which must be understood by Taichang official duties. ”

"It's hard work," I nodded, "Lady Pear Feather must be here very hard."

"The foreign minister is old, and the young master is going out for the first time, which is indeed quite difficult," Lizi Yu Xuanping owed, "Fortunately, thanks to the blessing of Taichang Gong, there is a naval army escorting along the way, and the road is still smooth." ”

"I mean the matter of His Royal Highness Motokawa's pledge," I sighed as I looked at Kobayakawa Motomu beside him, "Although His Royal Highness Motoki is the adopted heir of Kobayakawa Nakaji, after all, he is the bloodline of the main family, and he is the same lineage as Mori Beinakamori, Yoshikawa Jibe, Kobayakawa Nakaji, and Suiida Yushu...... Kobayakawa Nakamu should have risked the opposition of the main family and forcibly let His Royal Highness Yuan Wei pledge, right? Otherwise, it should be Master Huiqiong of Anguo Temple, how can he trouble Lord Liziyu? ”

"This ......" Pear Ziyu Xuanping hesitated for a moment, and quickly bowed his head and admitted, "Taichang Gongmingjian!" ”

"In that case, then I will accept His Highness's wishes," I said with a sigh, "Please reply to His Highness, I have understood his situation." In the future, no matter what the Maori family makes, I will remember this day in my mind. ”

"Yes," Pear Yu Xuanping bowed gratefully, "Thank you for being too righteous and righteous." ”

"However, in this case, His Highness Chubu may have to part ways with the Yoshikawa Jibu and even the Maori clan. I wonder if he is mentally prepared? ”

"If it really goes that far...... The head of the family has already come to his own consciousness. Pear Feather Xuanping replied solemnly.

"That's fine," I looked at Kobayakawa Motosu, who had been silent, and asked another question, "As far as I know, it seems that His Royal Highness Mototsu is not yet married?" ”

"Exactly." Lizi Yu Xuanping replied.

He understands that this is to marry Kobayakawa Motosui, and as the son-in-law of the Kobayakawa family, Kobayakawa Motosui's marriage partner can show my attitude towards the Kobayakawa family, and it also determines the future status of the Kobayakawa family.

Rao is so old, he can't help but show a nervous look on his face.

I thought for a moment and said a name: "The seventh daughter of His Royal Highness Bungo Otomo Kingo, Gui Ji, is three years younger than His Royal Highness Yuan Wei, her age and family background are very suitable, and she has a good appearance...... It's up to me to decide, how about forming this kinship? ”

"This" Pear Yu Xuanping opened his mouth wide. He never thought that I would let Kobayakawa Mototsu marry the Otomo family. Of course, as the daughter of the former Kyushu explorer and the current guardian family of the two countries, Katsura Ji is definitely worthy of Kobayakawa Motosu, and being able to get married to her also shows that I have a good ...... for the blue eyes of the Kobayakawa family, but it is the Otomo family who is the sworn enemy of the Maori family! At the beginning in Kitakyushu, Kobayakawa Takakei and the Otomo family fought so fiercely!

I couldn't help but be a little funny. However, in the original history, Kobayakawa Motoki changed his name to Xiubao, and it was indeed this Katsura Ji who married. Perhaps, history is so ridiculous...... I calmly looked at Pear Yu Xuanping, waiting for his reply.

Under my gaze, Riko Yu Xuanping finally calmed down. He helped Kobayakawa Motosui and lowered his body: "It is the honor of the family and the young master to be able to marry the sister of the Imperial Terrace (Janet) in the Kira family's mansion...... However, although the Otomo family has surrendered to Taichang Gong, and the previous grievances have become a thing of the past, the current situation of the family is very delicate, considering the feelings of everyone in the family, the foreign minister dares to ask Taichang Gong to keep it secret for the time being, and not to make this matter public. ”

"There's no problem with that." I quickly agreed.

Anyway, even if he doesn't say it, I won't make this news public right away. Otherwise, it is tantamount to forcing Kobayakawa Takakei to break with Yoshikawa Motoharu in advance, and also leaving Yoshikawa Motoharu without coming out to support Hideyoshi, thus cutting off my reputation of eliminating Yoshikawa Motoharu and annexing the San'in region. Such an outcome is not what I want, at least not at this stage.

Pear Feather Xuanping also didn't want the two rivers to break up now. From his standpoint, he probably wants to assist Longjing in his efforts to bridge the differences and let the Maori family survive this turmoil completely, although this seems difficult and very wrong, but after the Maori family lost its navy, its strength has shrunk a lot, and they are facing big problems in both finance and defense, and they no longer have much confidence and choice, and it is difficult to see through my long-term plan.

Hearing my assurance, Riko Yu Xuanping was obviously relieved.

He bowed down again: "Thank you Taichang Gong for your understanding!" Then, my young master will ask Taichang Gong to take care of it" (to be continued)