"Yes," I smiled and called to the Shinkyo behind me, "This is the Inuko Shinkyo, who was just served a few days ago...... It is thanks to the Dharma protection of the master that everything has been safe and free of illness and disasters in this way. ”

Shinjing was very smart, and when he heard my words, he immediately leaned down and bowed.

"Father and son are so polite!" Zhuan Yu hurriedly gestured with his hand, let the disciples on the side help Xinjing up, and said humbly, "Xinjing Gongzi Jiren Tianxiang, has his own gods and Buddhas to take care of him, and the poor monks dare not be greedy for the merits of the sky, so they really don't deserve such a great gift." ”

"The master doesn't need to be too humble." I laughed and insisted that Xinjing finish the service.

“…… The virtuous father and son are so sincere, so the poor monk is ashamed, "This time the honor did not shirk again," but the poor monk was a little confused. At present, Awaji Hall should be leading the army to attack the Zaga people, right? Why do you have the leisure to come to this temple? ”

"Master wise," I nodded very frankly, "I came this time, one is to repay the vows for the dog as a father, and the other is to worship the ......Buddha as a believer."

As I spoke, I took out two folded pieces of paper from my sleeve and handed them to my disciples. On the top of the two sheets of paper, there are two lines of words, "500 times of peace and blessing and vows" and "3,000 pieces of incense money in front of the Buddha", and at the end of them are said to be dated and my flowers.

"Amitabha! Awaji Hall is so pious that it must be blessed by the Buddha! The Buddha praised the Buddha and handed one of them to the disciples to put away, "The poor monk took the liberty of guessing, Awaji Hall still has nothing to say, right?" ”

"Exactly. I would like to ask the master to take the details on my behalf," I continued, "and the third thing I did was to visit the lord as a retainer of the Oda family, hoping to discuss the issue of the Saga and the protectors of your temple. ”

"This matter ......," Zhuan Yu frowned slightly, "This temple has always focused on Buddhism and does not participate in worldly disputes. According to the poor monk's shallow opinion, I am afraid that the lord of the seat may not necessarily understand what Awaji Hall said. ”

"I understand your temple's position very well, so I gave up the 20,000 victorious troops nearby and came to worship the mountain as a believer," I nodded, "However, since your temple is focused on the Dharma, you should know that the true meaning of the Dharma lies in purifying all sentient beings; And from the standpoint of the believers, I do not want to be hostile to the people of my own sect, and since the beginning of the army, although the strength has been overwhelming, I have tried my best to reduce the killing...... Therefore, in order to believe in the Miyago, Nango, and Nakago Sakaga members of this sect, and to avoid misunderstandings with the Dharma protectors of your temple, I think it is necessary to negotiate. ”

"What Awaji Hall said also makes sense." Listening to these soft and rigid words, Zhuan Yu fell into thought.

"Does the master think so too?" Knowing that there was great hope, I smiled, "Then how about asking the master to inform the master on his behalf and convey my advice?" ”

……，…… Thanks to the help of the honor, the Neraiji side quickly reached an agreement with me. The Nerai people sent a special honor as a messenger to recruit the Miyago, Nango, and Nakago Saga people who believed in Shingon Buddhism in the north of Kikawa for me, and then attacked the south of Kikawa, and I could ask Genrai for reinforcements for a fee. In return, I promised to grant the Saga Tsuchihashi family generous terms of submission, respect the influence of Neraiji Temple in Meigusa and Kaibe Prefecture, and recognize the ownership of the temple domain and the three privileges of guarding the three major privileges of not entering, not inspecting, and not entering taxes.

That night, our entourage stayed in the guest hall of the Great Buddha Court, and the next time we returned to the barracks with Zhuan Yu, and jointly sent documents to the North Sango of the Sakaga Zhongbei led by Miyaxiang Ota, asking them to surrender to us. In view of his reputation and the position of the representative, Ota Sakin and others quickly surrendered and sent hostages and pledges of allegiance. As a result, the two counties of Haibe and Mingcao were successfully pacified.

On the Yamate side of Hidekei, the situation was similar to what I expected, and the Saga people took advantage of the location to launch small-scale attacks on Wakayama Castle, which was under construction. Fortunately, the Iga people are also from the mountains and forests, and they are good at reconnaissance, tracking, and raiding routines, and after being a little familiar with the terrain, they quickly suppressed the small movements of the Agazhong. During this period, the Saga people gathered hundreds of people twice, trying to concentrate their forces to break through a little, but they were caught by Wasuka Masakatsu's Kanie Bei in time, leaving nearly a hundred corpses and fleeing back.

Compared to the hustle and bustle of Arita Prefecture, the river side of Iwamatsu Kejo is very calm and relaxed. I don't know if it was because there was no direct aggression, or because it was inconvenient to gather troops during the busy farming period, there was no action on Hatakeyama's side. There are also rumors that Ashikaga Yoshiaki seems to have left Kii and gone to the territory of the Mori family, much to the dismay of the people of the western part of Kotaka and Muro, and although Hatakeyama Takamasa had the intention to support the Saga people, he was unable to unite the wealthy clans.

I think this rumor is probably true. Today, the head of the Hatakeyama clan is Hatakeyama Yoshishu, who was born in the Ashikaga shogun's family, and his family is extremely noble, and he has the entire Oda family at his back, and his position is extremely stable. In this case, it is impossible for Hatakeyama Takamasa to take over the family business, which can be described as a thin West Mountain. Ji Yizhong followed him, even if he made merits, he could not get any reward, how can he expect them to have a positive surname?

Last year, he went out to Hanoi to fight against the traitors and avenge the head of the main family, Hatakeyama Akitaka; From a practical point of view, it is to show favor to Nobunaga, and you can take advantage of the situation to get closer to the Oda family. However, Hatakeyama Takamasa was dedicated to supporting the shogunate, so that Kii Zhong also lost his reward, and worked hard for a while in vain. Now if Ashikaga Yoshiaki really went to the Maori family, Kii Zhong would definitely feel that he was abandoned, and thus completely centrifuged the shogunate and Hatakeyama Takamasa.

So, in this case, is there still a need to conquer Yugao County? This is a very important question. Indulging the enemy at will certainly boost the arrogance of the opponent and extinguish his own prestige; However, indiscriminately requisitioning them will leave scars in vain, pushing the forces that could have been subdued against them.

I reported the rumors I had heard to Nobunaga and asked him to examine them in detail and include his own considerations. At the same time, I led Hamate across the Kigawa River, joined up with Yamate of Hidekei, and gradually advanced to Maitreya Temple and Saga Castle.

On March 17, Nobunaga's reply arrived, confirming the rumors that Ashikaga Yoshiaki had left Kii. According to the reply, Ashikaga Yoshiaki is currently residing in Totsu in the country of Bigo, and is guarded by Ryo Murakami, the younger brother of Yoshimitsu Murakami, the leader of the Innoshima naval army, and the lord of Tojo Castle. It was here that the original Ashikaga clan received a proclamation from Emperor Kogan and officially defeated Nitta Yoshisada who occupied Kyoto, thus opening the prelude to the establishment of the shogunate by the Ashikaga family.

Not only that, Ashikaga Yoshiaki also sent a letter to the imperial court to elect Mori Terumoto to the position of the head of the right horse. This position is a concurrent task of the Right Guard, and Nobunaga's current official position is the Right Guard, so Ashikaga Yoshiaki's behavior is tantamount to openly issuing a letter of challenge to Nobunaga.

Nobunaga estimated that the Mori family would soon make a move. At this time, he needs me to get out of Kii as soon as possible, and then return to Shikoku to contain the forces of the Maori family from the side and deal with the Maori navy. Therefore, he ordered me to speed up the progress of the attack on the Saga people, and also sent Hatakeyama Yoshishu to come to Kii with the people of Nanhanoi to see if I could subdue the people of Yukawa, Tamaki, Yamamoto and other countries, and ordered them to expel Hatakeyama Takamasa and return the position of Kii's guardian to the Hatakeyama clan.

"This Royal Highness is really a restless person!" I gave a general account of the contents of the letter, and then sighed to the people in the Lord's tent.

It is said that it is everyone, but in fact there are only four, namely Shinkyo, who is the deputy general, Shigeharu Takenaka, who is the military commissioner, Fuhide Gamo, who is temporarily in charge of intelligence, and Keimasa, who has nothing to do. The rest of the people had their own duties, and they commanded the actions of the various countries and reserves on the front line, and Hidekei was responsible for coordinating the pace at the front line, while Zhou Kei and Honda Masanobu remained on the construction site of Wakayama Castle.

None of them can say anything about my exclamation. After all, the object of evaluation is the shogun of the shogunate, and it doesn't matter to me as the sovereign, but they are not so convenient.

"What do you think of the orders of the main hall?" I looked around the tent.

"Leaving the people of the country to His Highness Hatakeyama to deal with, and seeking a dignified resignation from both sides, will save us a lot of trouble for the raiders," Shigeharu Takenaka said, frowning slightly, "However, if we want to speed up the progress of the raiders, we must change the current policy of steady progress." ”

"What Lord Shigeji said is extremely true." Xinjing immediately agreed.

"So, what exactly should we do?" I asked in a thoughtful tone.

Shinkyo thought for a moment and looked at Shigeharu Takenaka. Obviously, the first time it came to specific military affairs that required ingenuity, he was still a little tender.

"Jing Saburo, what do you think?" I looked at Jing Zheng.

"This," Jing Zheng was a little cramped, "the child is wondering, what will the father do......"

"What do you think of?" I sighed slightly. Relying too much on my father, it's not very appropriate.

"I didn't expect it yet." He replied honestly.

"Oh...... So let's hear everyone's opinions first! "I looked at Shigeharu Takenaka and Fuhide Gamo.

"I think there are two approaches that can be considered. Either seek the main decisive battle, or take Saga Castle as soon as possible. Gamo said.

"If you rashly attack the city, I am afraid that it may not be effective, and the casualties will be serious. After all, there are more than 2,000 people in Zaga, and their combat power is not bad, and they are fighting in their hometowns, and they also occupy the advantage of the terrain. Shigeharu Takenaka was the first to veto one of them.

"yes," I nodded. I was deeply touched by this, and as we got closer to the center of the Saga people's base camp, we faced more and more resistance, and many believers joined the ranks of the rebellion and gathered towards Maitreya Temple and Saga Castle.

"Your Majesty has an idea. Maybe take a little risk, though. Shigeharu Takenaka thought for a moment and said.

"Let's talk about it first." I nodded to Shigeharu Takenaka.

"Your Majesty thinks that you can ignore Hatakeyama Takamasa for the first time, transfer the Kawasaki who is determined, and then use this as a breakthrough," Shigeharu Takenaka got up and picked up a white chess piece and put it on the table map at the location of Maitreya Temple in Akibayama on the banks of the Waga River, "Then the whole thing will be moved!" ”

"Not bad!" I exclaimed. Actually, I also have this idea, but Hatakeyama Yoshishu hasn't come yet, so I have some concerns about mobilizing Iwamatsu Jingding. However, as Shigeharu Takenaka said, if you want to complete the strategy as soon as possible, you can only take a little risk.

"Let's do it!" I made a decision.

At that time, I ordered Iwamatsu to come to Wagagawa to block the water surface of the temple and build a castle at the foot of the mountain. The ironclad Kira ship "Isemaru", which was only equipped with naval guns last month, was still in the stage of water trials and training, but I was transferred from Awaji in advance to launch an artillery bombardment on Maitreya Temple from the Wakaya River.

As an annex to Ishiyama Honganji, Maitreya-ji Temple is known as Kii Gobo, and its status is similar to that of Ishiyama Honganji in Kinai. At this moment, the devotees immediately flocked to help the temple resist the attack of Iwamatsu Jingding. Without their trouble, our hindrance in the territory was immediately much lower. Then I temporarily halted the construction of Wakayama Castle, liberated the Tosa people, and joined the Awaji people, the Iga people, the Nishiawa people, and the North Ise people to besiege Maitreya Temple.

The total number of people from the four or five countries, including Kawate, reached 18,000, which was already a very considerable force. All of a sudden, the 67-meter-high Mt. Akiba was surrounded by clusters, and the Maitreya Temple was in a state of turmoil, and the smoke on the mountain was everywhere, as if it was about to fall.

Seeing this situation, the Suzuki family soon couldn't sit still. The followers of the Sect in the territory are the basis of their strength, and now seeing the danger in the direction of the Imperial Fang, although they know that they cannot fight with us, they have to succumb to the demands of their subordinates and believers, and gather all their forces to support.

At the Atago Pass, the Suzuki family's army and the crab river and triple preparations that our side surrounded and sent reinforcements met head-on. The Suzuki army had more than 5,000 people, including more than 2,000 miscellaneous congregations and more than 3,000 believers; On our side, there are more than 3,000 people, and they are out-and-out elite. Not long after the battle, the superiority of the combat power of the two sides was revealed, and the Suzuki family was quickly defeated.

By the time I personally led another reinforcement consisting of Tsushima Bei, Awaji Bei, and Asaki Bei to the battlefield, the battle was already over. The Suzuki army was unsurprisingly routed, and withdrew to Saga Castle along the way.

However, after a little inspection, we quickly noticed that there was something wrong with it.

"Most of the people who died in the battle were believers, and the main force of the Saga people was not lost much," Wasuka Masakatsu, who was in the vanguard, showed a wry smile, "As soon as the battle was engaged, his subordinates found out." ”

"The Suzuki family's dispatch of troops was originally a matter of necessity, in order to explain to the believers." Shigeharu Takenaka quickly figured out the trick.

"The current result is enough to give the Suzuki family a reason to stick to Saga Castle! …… That's a bit of a hassle. Xiujing sighed.

"That's not necessarily the case," I shook my head, "after this defeat, how much morale will be left of the Zaga people?" Will the believers in the territory still have the confidence to resist? ”

Looking at the corpses piled up on the battlefield again, I shook my head. These believers are so hateful and pitiful!

(To be continued)