"Let Nobuyi reply to him, saying that when Kinai settles down, he will definitely send troops to help, and hopes that the Tokugawa family can hold out for a while...... By the way, you might as well tell the messenger that this is my personal reply. I thought about it and said.

"Yes." Maeda Toshinaga received the order.

"By the way, your father, and His Royal Highness Ikoma, do you have anything to say?"

"My father said that I hope to be able to work with His Royal Highness Xiujing to continue the crusade against the Hatakeyama and Akechi families. His Royal Highness Sanuki is roughly the same attitude," Maeda Toshicho hesitated for a moment and continued, "In addition, my father gave my minister a private letter, saying that I should serve my lord with peace of mind. ”

I nodded. Maeda Toshiya and Ikoma's parents are obviously still interested in me. They have been my strength for a long time, and I have always been very good to them, and they can be said to be good and trust each other. Moreover, their territories are located in Shikoku and Kyushu, all of which are within the influence of the Kira family, not to mention that I just resigned as the governor of the family, even if they really retire, as long as the strength of the Kira family still exists, they will continue to follow the Kira family.

"I can understand the thoughts of the two," I thought for a moment, and instructed Toshinaga, "You will tell Shinjing for me, and transfer Xiujing to Wakayama Castle in his name, and pacify Kii with Zhou Jing; Then, entrust your father with the position of lord of Kishiwada Castle, and His Highness Ikeda of Settsu to attack Hanoi Province from the Western Front; Please turn your Highness Ikoma to the east and get in touch with His Highness Niwa in Koyasan as a force on the eastern front to attack Kawachi Province. ”

……，……

On the fourth day, Shinkei also left Iyo and came to the prefecture castle in person.

When Maeda Toshinaga informed me of the news, I was receiving a messenger from the Uki family. The messenger is the Kawabata family, the confidant of the Ukita family, and serves as the leader of the iron cannon and the Honmaru Gobanzhong. He informed me of the news that the Ukita Naoya had chosen the name of the Ukita Yoshiya in advance for their son-in-law, Hachiro Motofu.

"When the head of the family heard about His Royal Highness Jinwu's seclusion, he was immediately amazed, thinking that he had the wisdom of advancing and retreating, and was ready to follow His Royal Highness's example, and also let the young master of the family succeed to the position of head of the family in advance." Kawabata's parents said. Then he looked at Mrs. Funazu, who had met him with me, and continued: "Truth be told, since I have been on the front line against the Maori family for the past two years, the health of the head of the family has deteriorated dramatically, and I am afraid that it will not last another few months...... Therefore, the head of the family couldn't wait to serve the seven-year-old young master, and said with regret, 'It's a pity that I can't lead the young master to the first battle and see the young master's heroic posture on the battlefield; I have to ask His Royal Highness Jingo to do it for me! ’”

Hearing his words, I couldn't help but sigh: "Your Highness Quanzhou, it's really a pity." And Mrs. Funazu beside her sobbed softly.

Although I disagree with some of the actions of the Ukita Naoya, I cannot deny that he was an excellent strategist, almost self-made, and in just over twenty years, he took control of the entire country of Beizen and a part of Misaku, almost 400,000 koku. Moreover, he is not a completely ruthless person, and the arrangement of Mrs. Funazu shows that the two have a deep relationship; Now that he is about to die, he has revealed a touching affection for licking calves, which can be described as "a person is dying, and his words are also good".

According to the original trajectory, he should have more than a year left. The reason for the deterioration of my health was largely due to the fact that I was drawn into the camp of the Oda family in advance, and I had to deal with the offensive of the Mori family with all my might.

"Although this is the case, please take care of His Royal Highness Quanzhou!" I earnestly advise,

"Thank you for your kindness," Kawabata's parents owed, "but what the head of the family is most worried about is the situation after he leaves...... The head of the family knew that he used to act in a way that was extreme, and although it was conducive to strategy, it was not conducive to gathering people's hearts. While he is alive, he can still firmly control the situation, but once he is replaced by a young presiding minister, even if he is assisted by several important ministers, I am afraid that it will be difficult to grasp the situation at home and follow in the footsteps of His Royal Highness Kingo......"

I understood what Ukita Naoya meant. Now that Nobunaga and Nobutada have returned to heaven, it is impossible for the Oda family to continue to maintain their current status, and all the important ministers will probably have their own small abacus. So the Ukita Naoya family is worried that after his own death, the Ukita family will be co-opted by Hideyoshi, after all, now Hideyoshi is the general of Sanyo and is the direct boss of his family.

"Please reply to His Royal Highness Quanzhou, saying that I understand the inside story of the Uki family. No matter what happens in the future, my agreement with him will be valid," I solemnly promised him, "When the time is right, I will officially adopt the Yoshiya as an adopted son, and give the upper character like the children of the Ii family, and change the name to the Ukita Nobun family." ”

"His Royal Highness Kingo's words, the foreign minister must convey them to the head of the family," Kawabata's parents bowed deeply and said goodbye to me with interest, "His Royal Highness Jingo seems to have other important matters, so the foreign minister will not bother." ”

"Hmm," I nodded, sending someone to send Kawabata's parents out of Honmaru, and then asked Maeda Toshinaga, "You said Shinkei is here?" Is there any trouble? ”

"This ...... Your Majesty doesn't know," Maeda Toshicho shook his head, "The head of the family didn't reveal it to me, but only said that he would ask the lord for advice in person. ”

What the hell is going on that is so secret...... I frowned and instructed Toshicho Maeda, "Let him come to the inner room!" ”

"Yes." Maeda Toshicho took the order and left. After a while, Shinkyo walked in alone, without anyone with him, and I had already asked Funazu Lady Yufu to step back for the time being.

"What, is it a very troublesome thing?" I asked Xinjingdao.

"There is one thing yes, about Hatakeyama Akiko," Shinkyo nodded, "Several retainers suggested to me that since Yoshishu was a rebel minister who killed the lord and his own family was officially hostile to him, then Akiko, as the daughter of a rebel, must be dealt with, at least she could no longer stay in my Kira family." Their attitude is very serious, and I can't ignore their opinions; However, Akiko is the main room of his brother, and it is not good to deal with it rashly...... So, I'd like to ask my father for advice. ”

"What do you think should be done? As the head of the family, you have to have your own ideas, right? I asked him rhetorically.

"I think—" Shinkyo thought for a moment, "since my father has never disposed of Akiko, it must make sense." ”

"I'm asking you what you think." I was slightly disappointed. Xinjing is very good at accepting other people's opinions, which is very good; But it's too much, as the head of the Kira family, it's not good to lack responsibility and assertiveness.

"It's up to you to deal with this matter!" Xinjing immediately shook his head, "After all, it involves my brother's housework, and my brother is on an expedition, so it is only appropriate for you to deal with it." ”

"What's wrong with housework? Could it be that the Zong family can't manage the Tosa Kira family? I lectured him, "As long as you act in the open heart, who will have a problem with your handling?" Do you think Zhou Jing will be so unreasonable? ”

“…… Okay then," Shinkyo saw that I insisted on letting him deal with it, so he had to express his opinion, "I didn't want to deal with it originally, after all, after Akiko married into my Kira family, she is a member of the Kira family, and she should no longer be responsible for the actions of her mother's family." But since some retainers have raised it, it shows that not everyone agrees with this view. Maybe we should take care of their opinions and express them briefly. ”

"Just take care of it yourself." I said noncommittally.

"Then, how about I let Akiko move out of Lotus Pond City and live in Kira Castle temporarily, and be taken care of by the sect family and put under house arrest?" Xinjing said again.

This kid, if you want to do it, you can still do a good job...... I praised it in my heart, but still didn't express my opinion, but took the opportunity to mention his own main room: "By the way, Dong Ji is still in Mie Castle, right?" My father was killed, I think she was very sad, you might as well send someone to take her to you, and usually comfort her. ”

"Yes, I'll send someone over at once," Shinkei replied, "and for another matter, the Hara family has sent someone to Imabari Castle to ask for your reception. ”

"Didn't I say that? If you have someone who wants to see me, you can receive it! I said.

"But the person who came was His Royal Highness Yuliang Hide, and it was said that it was for the marriage of Jingxiu and Senjuhime...... He also said that this is your original engagement contract, whether as an engaged person or as the head of the woman's parents, you can't ignore it. Xinjing said.

"That's it!" I couldn't help but laugh. It is clear that Hideyoshi heard that I had voluntarily retired and given up the dominance of the center, so he was now ready to seek my support. And sending his younger brother to ask for a meeting and mentioning the marriage contract between Jingxiu and Senjuhime is the kindness he released to me.

Speaking of which, Jingxiu is seventeen years old this year, and Thousand Hands Ji is fifteen years old, and it is indeed time to fulfill the marriage contract. And as Hidecho Yura said, I must take care of this matter...... It's really a monkey, and I suddenly found a reason for me to come forward, and I also found an opportunity for the two to unite.

So, should we unite with him?

If it was before the Imabari assessment, I would definitely not have joined forces with him, or the two families would not have been able to unite at all. Because at that time, they were rivals, and they both wanted to compete for the dominance of the Oda family, and for this reason, he even used rumors to hold me back, and I also wanted to use the Uki family as a pawn to let the Mori family come over and cause trouble for him. But considering that there is a lot of opposition to the party now, the Yuliang family is an ally after all; Moreover, letting the Maori family go east will also cause great losses to the Yuxi family, so they gave up the plan to dismantle him with a tooth for a tooth.

However, now that I have decided to stay out of the matter and make every effort to pacify Kyushu and integrate the territory, then the two families have a common interest. For him, he could lead the crusade against the rebels with the support of the Kira family, and then control the center of the Oda family; As far as I'm concerned, it's better to have the close Yura family on the throne than to let Shibata climb up, so I can naturally get a good share when the territories of the opposition party are distributed after the war (in fact, most of them are under the direct command of Nobunaga, such as Yamashiro Province, Kita Kawachi Province, Minami Omi Province, etc.).

Compared to the original history, the current situation has been very different, and even if Hideyoshi is allowed to smoothly lead the Oda family, it is impossible to grow to the point where it is too powerful, at least not as strong as the entire Shikoku and Kyushu. Moreover, Hideyoshi's foundation is shallow, his financial resources and prestige cannot be compared to mine, and his relationship with powerful daimyo such as Tsutsui, Tokugawa, and Ukita is not as close as mine, so I don't have to worry about not being able to control him.

Of course, the most important point is that Hideyoshi did not have biological children. Of his two current adopted sons, Jingxiu was succeeded by my Kira family, and his position was already very stable, and he was faintly supported by most of his retainers. Now that he is going to marry my adopted daughter, Senjuhime, why is there any need to conflict with me when he inherits the family business?

"It seems that I have to come forward again," I spread my hands helplessly, "I really can't ignore the marriage of the thousand-handed hime!" ”

"Then, I'll go back to Imabari Castle and tell His Highness Yura Hidecho that he will come to Awaji to see him." Xiujing agreed.

"No," I shook my head, "you sent someone to tell him that the marriage was made between me and Hideyoshi, so to discuss the marriage, hopefully it will still be discussed between the two of us...... Now that I'm retiring for health reasons, I'm recuperating in Awaji, so it's best to set up a meeting place here. ”

"Father is saying that he wants His Royal Highness Hideyoshi Hara to come to Awaji to see you in person?" Xinjing said in surprise.

"Exactly. If you want my support, you have to show a certain amount of sincerity! I smiled, "When the time comes, you, as the head of the Kira family, will also participate in this meeting." ”

……，……

Speaking of which, Hideyoshi and I haven't seen each other in about two years. At the beginning of this year, when the New Year's celebration was held, I did not return to Antu until the end of the first month of the first month because of my strategy, and by then he had already gone to the front line in San'in.

And these two years were also the time when Hideyoshi's power grew by leaps and bounds. In the course of two years, he not only participated in the Battle of Araki, but also single-handedly destroyed the Bessho, Kotera, and Yamana clans, dealt a heavy blow to the Mori family, and was able to secure the entire Harima Province, and maintained a great influence in Inaba, Tajima, and other countries.

With his current prestige, it would be a bit of a face-saving thing for him to take the initiative to come to Awaji to see me. However, considering the important surname of this meeting, I know that he will definitely come. In terms of face, he was born as a peasant with both self-esteem and inferiority, and if necessary, he could let go of any reserve. For example, in front of Nobunaga, he can do almost anything, he can not care about anything, and he is completely like a courtier.

Sure enough, on the fourth day after Shinkei sent messengers, Hideyoshi Hara crossed the sea to Awaji Province and landed at the outer harbor under the main castle of the prefecture. Out of courtesy, the Governor Shinkei personally greeted them on the shore, while I watched them from the window of the castle tower.

Although there was still a long distance, I could see Hideyoshi's figure at a glance, he was dressed in regular clothes, covered with bright red feathers, and his figure was still so thin, but he looked very majestic, and he had the demeanor of a general. He came with more than 200 retainers and attendants, his younger brother Xiuchang and adopted son Jingxiu were among them, and they were in the closest and most conspicuous position together.

In addition to the two of them, there was another samurai in a similar position, obviously someone whom Hideyoshi trusted but whom I had never met. He looked to be in his thirties, dressed in a black samurai suit, and his left foot seemed a little inconvenient, but he tried his best to maintain his usual pace, following Hideyoshi's side unhurriedly.

If you don't know, then it's not someone from Owari or Mino. It's really not easy for a non-thick tail to climb to this position...... I thought to myself, and looked at him again. And when my eyes fell on his slightly limping left foot again, I suddenly had a flash of inspiration in my heart, and I immediately understood his identity.

(To be continued)