……，…… Akizuki Tane had two sons and a daughter, in addition to the eldest son Saburo who also seppuku, the second son Akizuki Kuro was sent to Kokura Castle in the northernmost part of Toyozen Province earlier as the adopted heir of Takahashi Kanzo. Takahashi Kane, the previous governor of the Takahashi family, once served as the Chikuzen guardian of the Otomo family, and received 20,000 koku from Mikasa-gun, but later fled to the Bunzen Province because of rebellion, and took refuge in the Mori family, which occupied Kitamae at the time, and the family business of the Takahashi family was inherited by Takahashi Shaoyun. However, Takahashi Kan has not given up the attempt to return to Chikuzen country, two years after the battle of Ogawa, he took the opportunity to join the Akizuki family, trying to return to Chikuzen country with the help of strength, but unfortunately people are not as good as heaven, not long after adopting Jiulang, he died in May last year, and the age happened to be the dreamy fifty years old.

The other eldest daughter, Akizuki Ryuko, is also not in Guyayama Castle, but arrived at the Utsunomiya family when she formed an alliance with Utsunomiya Zhenfang the year before last, as the unmarried main room of the town's heir, Utsunomiya Chaofang. In this sense, Akizuki Tanemi asked the Utsunomiya family for help, but it was not completely a dizzy illness and rushed to the doctor.

Of course, at this point, the Utsunomiya family will definitely not agree. Not only that, but as soon as the Akizuki family was destroyed, they quickly attacked Kokura Castle, which had lost its pillar, and captured Akizuki Kuro, who was ten years old and renamed Takahashi Mototane, and sent it to our army along with Akizuki Ryuko to show their sincerity in surrendering to us.

Even the Utsunomiya family, whose territory is as high as 30,000 koku, not to mention the rest of the wealthy clans, and before Wasuka Keikatsu and Satake Nobuhide have passed, the Monji Castle Monji family, the Hanao Castle Aso family, the Magaku Castle Nagano family, the Kanki family of Kanjo, and the Nagaiwa Castle Nonaka family have already sent messengers to express their surrender to our side. The only exception is the Tahara family of Myoki Castle (plus the judgment of Tahara kinken is just a separate family), this family is a branch of the Otomo family, and when Keishiro entered the Otomo family last year, the Otomo family of Otomo Sorin's second son was succeeded by the Otomo family, so it is naturally under the Otomo family, a fact that even I must respect.

And I also have no intention of embarrassing the Tahara family, compared to this family, the Utsunomiya family needs special attention. They were the guardians of Bunzen during the Kamakura period and were among the top officials of the shogunate, and after the annexation of Kokura Castle, their territory reached 35,000 koku, accounting for a quarter of the entire Bunzen Province. Moreover, the Aso family and the Nozhong family in the country are both wealthy families that originated from the Utsunomiya clan, although the age of the separation is very far, but once the Utsunomiya family raises its head, it is very likely that they will choose to follow the clan of the past.

Maybe it's time to test their loyalty...... After this decision, when I met with Utsunomiya Zhenbo, I made a very excessive request to him.

"I heard that your family has "Ogura colored paper", which is the original manuscript of the ancestor Fujiwara Dingjia when he compiled "New Ancient and Modern Waka Collection" and "Ogura Hyakuna One Song" at Ogura Sanso in Kyoto nearly 400 years ago, can you borrow it for a while?"

"This ......" Utsunomiya Zhenfang really hesitated.

Seeing his appearance, I understood a little in my heart, so I asked more urgently: "There are not many people I have loved in my life, and waka is one of them...... I hope Utsunomiya-sama doesn't disappoint me. ”

“…… To tell the truth, because of the age and improper storage, "Ogura Colored Paper" has been destroyed by silverfish, and I am afraid that it will not be able to meet the wishes of Tai Changgong. Utsunomiya Zhenfang thought for a moment, bowed down and replied.

"Well," I sighed, "it's a pity." ”

"Yes. I'm really sorry! Utsunomiya Zhenfang hurriedly owed a debt, "It's a pity that something like this happened, and I'm deeply ashamed of my ancestors!" ”

"In that case, I don't want His Royal Highness the Utsunomiya Minbu to be demanding, so I ask you to go back first and wait for my next decision," I nodded to him, "However, how about the four thousand stone territory of Ogura Castle, how about asking the Utsunomiya family to return it to Takahashi Motozhong first?" ”

"This ...... Isn't Takahashi Motozen the second son of the anti-party Akizuki Taneshi? Utsunomiya Zhenfang asked in surprise, obviously reluctant to hand over the territory in hand.

"However, he has already joined the Takahashi family, and is naturally the child of the Takahashi family, and I have no intention of embarrassing it, and have decided to keep his territory. Therefore, please make sure that the Utsunomiya Minbu returns Kokura Castle, and don't fall into the reputation of taking advantage of the fire to rob and bully orphans. ”

"Taichang Gong has made a decision, and he should obey it." Utsunomiya reluctantly agreed.

I smiled inwardly. Really, I just asked you to return 4,000 stones, so reluctantly, let me take the opportunity to reduce the seal or even transfer the seal next, how should you react...... It's a pity that before I could seize the opportunity to clean up the Utsunomiya townhouse, the situation in Sanyo Road changed.

In April, the Ukita Naoya of the country of Bizen died of a sudden illness. Before he died, he sent messengers to me and Hideyoshi Yura, respectively, entrusting us with the future of the Uki family. The envoy sent to me is the head of the iron cannon in the family and the head of the Honmaru Goban Kawabata, and he is also one of the closest ministers of the Nao family, and the last time the Ukita Yoshiya Motofu, he also went to the castle to inform us, and informed the Nao family of the serious illness.

Although I expected it, I still couldn't help but feel a little emotional about the death of the Nao family.

"His Royal Highness Quanzhou before he died, do you have any unfulfilled wishes?" I asked Kawabata's parents.

"The head of the family said that Taichang Gong is a person that the family can rely on, and he will eventually win the world. However, the family is now under the match of His Highness Chikuzen, and Taitsune is impartial with his eyes on Kyushu, and he will not immediately make enemies with His Highness Chikuzen. Therefore, the main family will first move closer to the Yura family, and when Taichang Gong rises up, he will turn to Taichang Gong as a precursor to the Kira family's pacification of Dingki. ”

As she spoke, Kawabata's parents took out a piece of oath paper from her bosom and handed it to me through Yoshikei. When I opened it, it was written this oath of the Ukita family, and at the end there were not only his own flowers, but also the blood marks and flowers of the four Ukita Tadashi family, Nagafune Sadakin, Togawa Hideyasu, and Oka Jiali. The four named are the most trusted retainers of the Ukita Naoshi family, who participated in the signing of the two Bodhi temples together, and now serve as the aftermath and assistant of the Ukita Yoshiki family, the governor of the family.

Such an oath can be said to be a handle that the Uki family took the initiative to send, and their loyalty can be regarded as guaranteed. As long as I don't have a problem with myself, they will definitely turn around as promised. At that time, Hideyoshi's biggest appearance suddenly rebelled, what kind of blow will it cause to the Yura family?

- It's really exciting to think about!

"Understood," I smiled and put away the oath, "His Highness Quanzhou is right...... Not only that, the Maori family will definitely take the opportunity to attack the Uki family when they get the news, and I hope that the Uki family can be prepared and maybe ask His Royal Highness Hideyoshi for help. And at that time, I will attack the Mori family's Zhou Defense and Nagato to contain the Mori family's military strength and energy. ”

"Yes, Taichang Gong's kindness, the foreign minister will earnestly convey it to the elders of the family." Kawabata's parents said respectfully.

"By the way," I suddenly thought of a question, "who was the messenger sent to His Highness Hideyoshi?" ”

"It is the head of the Kurashiki Town who joined the family last year...... Konishi-sama was originally a member of the Tamba Naito clan, and he had been in business since his grandfather's generation, and he was a family friend with His Royal Highness Tadake's maternal grandfather, the treasurer of Kurashiki Town, Abe Zencho, so he was introduced to the head of the family by His Royal Highness Tadake and Abe Treasurer. This time, I heard that His Royal Highness Chikuzen had become the head of Tanba, so His Royal Highness Tadake sent Konishi-sama to be in charge of negotiations with His Highness Chikuzen. ”

Sure enough, this is the person! I suddenly hesitated, should I win it over? This person's business and water army talents are still quite impressive. Although he is now in charge of contacting Hideyoshi, as far as I know, the headquarters of the Konishi family's department is located in Sakai Town, which I have assigned, and his father Konishi Ryoza is taking care of it, so it is very convenient to woo him.

However, thinking of Governor Konishi's deception in the Namhi Campaign and the Campaign of the Korean Dynasty, I gave up the idea of wooing and soliciting. This is a talent, but it is not suitable for the main thing, and it may go wrong at some critical time.

"That's right." I nodded briefly.

……，…… Because it was necessary to ensure the stability of the domain in order to conquer the Mori family, I had to abandon the plan to punish the Utsunomiya family in the Joi Valley, and sent him a document on the security of the 30,000-stone territory in the two central counties of Bunzen. Except for him and the Tahara family in the southernmost area, the remaining 100,000 koku in the five prefectures were divided among the Wasuka Keikatsu and Satake Nobuhide who went out to the Toshimae Province. Among them, Bee Suga Home North, leading the three counties of 58,000 stones, with Moji Qinyin, Takahashi Moto, Aso Zhenli, Nagano Yumori and other wealthy families; Satake Xuanxiu lived in the south, led the two counties of 40,000 stones, and was accompanied by Guan Qinmo, Ye Zhong Zhen and others. However, there are not many direct collars between the two, and compared to before, the Wasuka family even has nearly 2,000 stone less.

There's no way around it, I don't have enough time to clean up the country right now.

Time was the key factor in my competition with Hideyoshi. My advantages are economy, territory, and reputation, so I want to give full play to my advantages to integrate the western country and build an absolute strength that can unify the capital; Hideyoshi's strength was his family's fame and dexterity, so he wanted to eliminate his colleagues in the family and inherit the main strength and prestige of the Oda family. And our competition is to complete the integration in the shortest possible time.

Comparatively, my path is smoother, and although it is more difficult to unify Kyushu and destroy Mori, I have no opponents in the western country, and as long as I make steady progress, I can achieve my goal. Although Hideyoshi's path was a shortcut, he had several competitors, such as Oda Nobutaka, Shibata Katsuie, and even Oda Nobuo.

It's really embarrassing to think back to what has happened in Oda's house since the beginning of this year. Nobunaga's funeral in January can be said to be the last cooperation between the important ministers, and both the specifications and pomp were unprecedented in the Warring States period. Nobunaga's remains were carved out of agarwood wood, buried in a huge shrine inlaid with gold and silver, wrapped in silk and satin, transported to Hasunodai for cremation, and then the ashes were sent to Daitokuji Temple for burial. From Hasunodai to Daitokuji Temple, the distance is about 1,500 (2,700 meters), and 30,000 troops are arranged along the road, with Ikeda Tsuneko, Ikoma Parents, and Takigawa Kazuki each responsible for a section, while Nobunaga's own Reiyu is a replica of the specifications of the formation, with Shibata Katsuie as the first formation, Niwa Nagahide as the rear of the hall, and in front of the Reiyu is the mourning lord Oda Nobutaka holding the spiritual seat, and is guarded by Hideyoshi Hara and Nobuyo Kira respectively holding a sword and a rib. The cost of the entire funeral was a full 10,000 kan, not including the 500 gold (5,000 kan) that I had built the temple and the offering tower.

And immediately after that, the dispute broke out.

The first is the dispute between Nobutaka Oda and Hideyoshi Yura. In February, Nobutada's son-in-law was born, and he was unanimously named Yoshihoshi by everyone (there was no Nobutada, and it was usually said that he should inherit Nobutada's young name, but the name 'Wonder Maru' was really strange, so he inherited the young name of his grandfather Nobunaga), and was elected as the new governor. However, regarding the aftermath of the Kichiboshi doll (referred to as Chihuahua), both Nobutaka and Hideyoshi wanted to fight for it. As a result, Nobutaka not only received the support of Shinkei and Niwa Nagahide, but also won over Shibata Katsuya by marrying his aunt Aichi, so he succeeded in serving as the aftermato of Chihuahua. Not to be outdone, Hideyoshi asked Nobutaka to send the Chihuahua to Azuchi Castle, which was the residence of the city, and insisted that Nobutaka, who was the hindsight, also enter the city. Of course, Nobutaka didn't do it, and on the grounds that Azuchi Castle had suffered a military disaster and had not yet been repaired, he left the Chihuahua in his own castle of Gifu. Then Hideyoshi was as good as a stream, and allocated 50,000 kan from the survey trade funds I sent, and entrusted Niwa Nagahide to preside over the repairs.

This was followed by the battle for dominance between Hideyoshi Yura and Katsuie Shibata. In the past, the position of the governor was vacant, and the form of dividing the territory was signed by four ministers, and now the Chihuahua inherits the position of the governor, so in addition to hindsight, it is necessary to arrange a pen head to lead the central affairs. This position undoubtedly belonged to Hideyoshi, who led the rebellion, but after Shibata Katsuya married Princess Aichi, he had the identity of a public, and his voice in the family was greatly improved, reaching the level of fighting against Hideyoshi. As a result, the two argued for a while, but they still held on to each other, until Shinkei proposed that Niwa Nagahide take the role, which calmed down the dispute and attached two more conditions. First, the other three sent representatives to Azuchi to work with Niwa Nagahide; The second is to arrange a mission between Oda Nobutaka and Niwa Nagahide, who served as the Kyoto commissioner not long ago and has almost defected to Hideyoshi, and at the same time, for the convenience of contact, Hori Hidemasa also got Sawa Yamashiro of Nagahide.

In the last month or two, a territorial dispute broke out between Oda Nobuo and Nobutaka. The cause of the dispute was that when Nobunaga was attacking Mino, he arranged for Takigawa Kazuyoshi and Ikeda Tsuneko to preside over the direction of Nishimino and Minono respectively, and their territory expanded from Owari to Mino. When Nobunaga moved to Gifu, the two of them as direct ministers, and all the territories they assigned were assigned to Mino Province, although the two were later transferred, and Owari and Mino were also handed over to Nobutada, but this mistake has not been corrected. But now that Nobuo had been sealed to Owari, he naturally felt that he had suffered a loss, so he appealed to Niwa Nagahide, demanding that the nearly 20,000 koku territory assigned to Mino be returned to him, and that the several thousand koku enclave east of the Kiso River in Northern Ise also be assigned to Owari Province. Niwa Nagahide consulted with the tripartite representatives, Tsuneko Ikeda, Ikoma Parents, and Kanamori Nagakin, and agreed to Nobuo's request to use the Kiso River as the boundary between Owari Province and Mino and Ise.

On the face of it, all three disputes appear to have been resolved. In reality, however, new problems have arisen. For example, what would happen if Azuchi Castle was repaired and Nobutaka was still reluctant to send the Chihuahuas? And Nobuo, this time he was encouraged, and after getting nearly 30,000 stones, the territory has already surpassed Nobutaka, will he have further requirements?

What's more, after all, the rift between several parties has arisen, and it is getting bigger and bigger, and if it continues to develop like this, sooner or later it will lead to a complete rupture.

And this change in the Uki family, as well as the war with the Mori family, may become the source of the official rupture.

(To be continued)