In the Kyushu region, Chikuzen Province has a very special status. Since the establishment of Dazaifu 900 years ago, this country has been the core of Kyushu's rule, and it is also the most disputed area. Several wealthy families in the country have extraordinary origins and origins. Among them, the oldest is the Harada family of the Daizo clan (Harada Naomasa gave the Miao character), which is a descendant of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, and the history can be traced back to the Kofun era, but it is a pity that six years ago, due to being too close to the Ryuzoji family, the head of the family, Harada was ordered to seppuku by Otomo Sorin, and more than a dozen people of the Lang Party were martyred, so the power declined, and almost fell into a situation of extinction; The second is the Akizuki family, which is the branch of the Ōzo clan, and during the Genhei War, he and Hizen Matsuura, Higo Kikuchi, and Chikugo Kamachi belonged to the same Heike camp, and after the subjugation, they were not treated well by the Kamakura shogunate, and were placed under the foreign Shaobi family and the Otomo family; The third is the Izumo Shinto clan's clan clan Omiya Tsukasa, the Soka Shrine is one of the seven major shrines in the country at the time of the Taika Revolution, and it has always been the highest shrine in the Kyushu region; And then there's the Tsukushi family and the Tachibana family.,The situation of these two families is similar.,Both are tribes that expand their power to Chikuzen Province on the orders of the lord's family.,It's just that the former belongs to the Hizen Shaobi family.、The latter belongs to the Bungo Otomo family.,Among them, the Tachibana family because of two rebellions.,More than ten years ago, it was extinct more than ten years ago.,Inherited by the Toji of the Toji family of the Bungo family; Finally, there is the Takahashi family of Iwaya Castle, who was originally born in Chikugo Province and expanded to Chikuzen Province on the orders of the Otomo family with the Tachibana family, and then rebelled together and fell together, so it was inherited by the Yoshihiro town of the Toyogo Yoshihiro family - that is, today's Takahashi Shaoyun.

In addition, there are also the famous Shibukawa family and Ouchi family. The Shibukawa family is a branch of the Ashikaga family, following Imagawa Ryitshi, who has served as the Kyushu exploration of the Muromachi shogunate for generations, but it has declined more than a hundred years ago, and has been repeatedly bullied by the three families of Shaotsubi, Ouchi, and Otomo, and was officially destroyed in the hands of the Ouchi family more than 40 years ago; The Ouchi family was the two countries of Shubo and Nagato in Sanyo, and during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, he took over the responsibility of the Toshimae guardian of the Shotsumi family due to his merits, and was appointed to manage Chikuzen, which has been very strong for more than 100 years, but it declined more than 20 years ago and died in the hands of the Mori family.

In view of the important surnames of this country, as well as the special surnames of the great families in the country, I have already decided to include this country as the direct leader of the family, so naturally I will not agree to the request of the Qiuyue family. What's more, Qiu Yue is still an ambitious, capricious, and capable guy, and if he stays behind, it will definitely be a great hidden danger.

Therefore, although Akizuki Taneshi sent envoys three times, and the conditions for surrender became lower and lower, and even proposed to send his son-in-law Akizuki Saburo to our army, and present the world-famous tea vessel Narahara Shiba Chong, but I still did not accept it, and directly sent the envoy back to the city. At this point, Akizuki Tanemi naturally understood that I just wanted to exterminate his family, so he also exerted his strength, taking advantage of the fact that I had not yet launched a general attack, and tried to mobilize the defenders in the city to strengthen the defense, ready to persist with me, and at the same time asked for reinforcements from the lord of the Bunzen Kingdom, Utsunomiya (Joi), and the Mori family in the western country.

In doing so, he is clearly underestimating us. Despite my apparent appearance, I was in fact firmly in control of the situation. The surrounding wealthy clans have already surrendered to us and assisted me in blocking the Akizuki family, and the envoys sent by the Akitsuki family were quickly captured by the wealthy clans and the Iga people and escorted to my main camp.

After interrogating these two messengers, I smiled and said to everyone present: "The Qiuyue family is really panicked, and they still expect the support of the Joi family and the Maori family!" ”

"Yes, the Utsunomiya town house of Toyozen Province also expressed his surrender to the family through His Royal Highness Otomo Wuwei (Otomo Yoshitomi) two days ago!" Hattori Masanari also showed a rare smile.

Bunzen's Utsunomiya town house has a very close relationship with the Otomo family, which is known by his name. The Otomo family and the Mori family competed for the Bunzen Kuni Meeting, and the Mori family was based on the Moji Castle Gate Clan at the northern end, and the front line of the Otomo family was the Joi Castle of the Utsunomiya family in the middle. Although after the Battle of Ogawa, Utsunomiya Zhenfang also turned away from the Otomo family and reached an alliance with the Akizuki family, but now that the Akitsuki family is facing annihilation, the Utsunomiya family naturally wants to draw a line with them. Moreover, it is also very convenient for the Utsunomiya family to turn around, and the main room of the current head of the Utsunomiya town house is the sister of Otomo Sorin.

I'm hoping now that the Utsunomiya family will really come out to support the Akizuki family! The Bunzen Province, like the Chikuzen Kingdom, is a territory that I have predetermined, and I am going to divide it among the genealogy retainers of the Zong family as a support for the direct leadership of the Tsukuzen Province of the Jong family, as well as a front line for the future attack on Sanyang. Leaving behind an overly powerful family like the Utsunomiya family actually didn't meet my expectations.

As for the Maori family, the relationship with the Akizuki family is really good, and when Akizuki Tane's father Akizuki Fumiko committed suicide, he and the important ministers in the family defected to the Maori family, and then returned to Chikuzen, also thanks to the support of the Maori family. If the Mori family can receive a letter asking for help, regardless of the friendly relationship between the two families, even if it is for the purpose of containing me, they will be willing to provide reinforcements to the Akizuki family. It's just that at this time of year, they probably can't gather and match the wealthy family to go into battle, which can be said to be powerless. Even if they were barely assembled, I would like to see how they managed to avoid the blockade of our naval forces, how they crossed the Kanmon Strait between Kyushu and Sanyo, and how they passed through the Bungo Kingdom, which they had not conquered in their early years and were now actively moving closer to their own family.

"It's almost time to destroy the Akizuki family," I looked at the Chikuzen Empire map, which was marked with a subjugation mark everywhere, and decided to settle the war in the country and calm it down completely.

At the end of February, I formally ordered an attack on the ancient mountain castle at the top of the mountain. As the vanguard, it is the more than 10,000 troops under the Bungo Otomo family, which is almost the largest force that the Otomo family can mobilize at present. It can be seen from this that the Otomo family's resentment against the Akizuki family is very deep. With this powerful resentment, as well as the experience of conquering the ancient mountain city more than twenty years ago, they broke out with a strong fighting spirit that was rarely seen since the Battle of Erchuan, and they continued to attack the top of the mountain. However, the Akizuki family is no longer the local wealthy family of twenty years ago, they have been crisscrossing Kitakyushu in recent years, and they have always had an advantage over the Otomo family, and they are extremely supportive of the Akizuki Seed. With such confidence, they withstood several onslaughts from the Otomo family and inflicted considerable damage on them.

Seeing that the battle was not going well, I ordered the Tachibana and Takahashi families in the country to be recruited to come to their aid. Although the direct military strength of these two families is not much, after years of fighting with the Qiuyue family, they are not only very familiar with the combat style of the Qiuyue family and the generals in the family, but also have accumulated a huge hatred for the Qiuyue family. Therefore, I ordered Takahashi Shaoyun to lead the two armies as the vanguard, and transferred part of the Chikugo army to his command.

Takahashi Shaoyun really lived up to my expectations and successfully broke through the defense line of the Qiuyue family. I ordered him to attack Ninomaru directly, cut off the connection between Honmaru and Higashinomaru and Nishinomaru, and then hand over the two pills to the people of Kokokuni and Osumi Kuni, and give the Honmaru to the Otomo family of Toyogo.

Some of my retainers were very puzzled by my arrangement. Among the [***] forces, the most powerful is the Satsuma people, who not only have outstanding combat power, but also have been forcibly recruited by me to recruit 15,000 people, which is equivalent to the sum of the two [***] forces of Yuxiang and Osumi. However, so far, except for being ordered to go north and coerce the sect to surrender, the rest of the time is playing soy sauce. Now that it's time for the final battle, Chikugo, Bungo, Osumi, and Xiang Zhu [***] are all ordered to go out, but they still haven't arranged anything for them.

Since so many people have been recruited, why are they left in vain? If it is taboo for them, then let them go out and fight the Qiu Yue family, wouldn't it just weaken their strength...... Maybe some of the retainers are thinking like this, but they are too embarrassed to ask me.

Even Shimazu himself once offered to ask me to fight, and then I was very politely refused.

Actually, this time I recruited the Shimazu family, I just wanted them to show their obedience, and I didn't intend to give them any chance to make meritorious contributions. In this case, they will not be able to make meritorious contributions in Kitakyushu, and naturally they will not be able to receive rewards and spread their martial names...... After two days, the Otomo family took the lead in attacking the ancient mountain castle Honmaru, and Akizuki Tanumi, Akizuki Saburo's father and son committed suicide. I summoned everyone to review the first letter from Akizuki and his son, and announced that the war was over, and that the entire Chikuzen Province would be under the hands of my Kira family. Suddenly, both the direct ministers of the family and the appearance of various countries congratulated me.

"This also depends on your bravery!" I smiled and nodded to everyone, "I have seen your contributions, so I will announce your reward now." ”

That's the most important thing. All of a sudden, everyone pricked up their ears and waited for me to announce the contents of the reward, and the whole tent was immediately silent.

"The first merit of this battle should belong to His Royal Highness Takahashi Shaoyun, who led his troops to break through the defense line of the Qiuyue family and divide the forces of the Qiuyue family...... Therefore, I decided to transfer the Takahashi family to the original Chikugo Province and receive the old 80,000 koku of the Kamachi family! I said generously.

80,000 stone territory, this is a very huge reward. In addition to commending the merits of the Takahashi family, it also has the meaning of comforting the Otomo family. Such a legacy will be inherited by Otomo Yoshitomi's son-in-law.

"Yes. Thank you Taichanggong! Takahashi Shaoyun bowed down.

"This is followed by the Tachibana family, as well as the Yoshioka and Usuki families, which are the backbone of the Otomo family. Therefore, I decided to transfer the three families to Chikugo Province and divide the 120,000 stone old domains of the Kamichi family equally. Yanagawa Castle in the territory was handed over to the Tachibana family as compensation for their surrender of Tachibanayama Castle. ”

"Yes." The fourteen-year-old Tachibana Tonghu (Somao) bowed down with Yoshioka Kanko and Usuki Zhensao, who had always been friendly to me.

"His Royal Highness Otomo Takei," I then called Otomo Yoshitomi. At the beginning of the year, because of my nomination, he received the position of left guard from the fifth rank in the imperial court.

"Please tell me too often." Yoshitomo Otomo bowed his head.

"In view of the merits of this capture of Koyama Castle Honmaru, I will hand over Chikugo Province to you. In addition, the Tsuruzaki area of Yoshioka and Usuki, and Usukiso, Umibe-gun, will be returned to the Otomo family as a direct leader! ”

"Yes. Thank you for your kindness! Otomo Yoshito bowed down. After two years of embarrassment, the Otomo family finally stabilized again. Of course, this is mainly because Keishiro entered the Otomo family, and I believe that both Otomo Yoshinori and Otomo Sorin, who is behind him, can understand.

"In addition to that, I have another suggestion," I said, looking at him, "I heard that when Lingzu passed away, he left a last word to His Royal Highness Otomo Kingo (Otomo Sorin) that the six members of the family should be sentenced to three seats, and the same people of the clan and the rest of the retainers should each receive three seats?" ”

"Indeed...... Since his father succeeded to the throne, he has always followed the legacy of his ancestors. Otomo replied.

"Then, I suggest that Yoshioka and Usuki be the representatives of Chikugo Province, and that they have a hereditary seat for the Fellow Clans and a retainer group, I don't know what you think? …… At that time, Yoshioka Echizen Shou Nagazen and Usuki Echichu Shou Jinsu were two people, who once led the government affairs of Bunzen and Chikuzen, and were called 'Toyoshu Erlao', and they were the most meritorious ministers of the Otomo family; ”

"Tai Changgong's suggestion...... In the next will gladly accept. Otomo Yoshitomo thought for a moment and quickly agreed to my request.

"In the lower Chikugo country, Kuroki Ieyong," Kuroki Ieyong, who was in the back row of the lower head, suddenly opened his mouth, "I would like to ask, for His Royal Highness Zhou Jing and Lord Xuanxiu, who are currently in charge of the Chikugo Kingdom, how is Taichang Gong going to arrange?" ”

"That's what I'm going to talk about next," I said, glancing at Ienaga Kuroki. For the sake of his previous expression of loyalty and assistance to me in subduing Shimazu, I am not prepared to deal with him, "Zhou Jing will add 100,000 stone to Nan Iyu and return to Kii Province to preside; Xuanxiu will follow me to pacify the Fengqian Kingdom, and then seal it in the country. ”

"The son respects his father's arrangement." Zhou Jing and Satake Xuanxiu bowed down together to receive the order, and invariably used their private titles. This may not be very formal, but it can express the intimacy and tacit understanding between you and me in front of the Chikugo wealthy family and the rest of the outsiders.

"Hmm," I nodded approvingly, turning to Gamo Nobuhide and Beehouse Yoritaka, "His Highness Yoryū and His Highness Nobuhide, as well as all of you in Chikugo Province, have also made great achievements this time. Therefore, I am prepared to reward you for your faithfulness by giving each family and its annual tribute an equal amount of money. ”

"Thank you for your generosity!" Without waiting for Gamo and Bee House to react, Kuroki Ienaga bowed down first. Then, as if he realized something, he hurriedly owed me and Gamo and Bee House again, "I'm sorry, I'm so happy to be here......"

"It doesn't matter." I gladly took the opportunity to express my generosity and looked at the last Shimazu years, "As for the Shimazu family...... This expedition to Kitakyushu is also quite tireless, so I will bear all the expenses of your expedition this time, and compensate you in terms of military rations and funds. ”

"Thank you for your kindness," Shimazu replied a little depressed. Because of the destruction of the Qiuyue family and the split of the Ryuzoji family, it was a foregone conclusion that I would become the ruler of Kyushu, so he also changed to a more respectful title, but there was some dissatisfaction in his tone: "It's just that in the last battle to pacify Kyushu, I couldn't help anything, I'm really sorry!" It's a pity! ”

"It's okay," I said with a smile of comfort, "Once I've stabilized Chikuzen and Bunzen, the next target will be the Ouchi family and the Mori family in Sanyo." If the Shimazu family is interested, they might as well behave at that time...... When the time comes, I will naturally give you and half a country or His Royal Highness Yoshihiro in Sanyang Dao according to your merits! ”

(To be continued)