At dusk, the Nobi Plain appears empty, and the fields and mountains of Mino are gradually shrouded in twilight.

Here's the ink strand.

The two tributaries of the Nagara River converge in one place to form a zigzag. On the other side of the river is Anpachi-gun, Mino.

With a straw in his mouth, Kinoshita Toyoshiro stood on the shore and looked at Mino from afar, but when he saw the water, he almost reached the sky.

Hiyoshi

Hiyoshi

The shrill voice of Masakatsu Bee sounded behind Kinoshita Toyoshiro.

Kinoshita Toyoshiro was somewhat unhappy with the name of this Hiyoshi, which was his childhood name and the nickname of a Taoist boy when he was in the Temple of Light.

At that time, he was called a monkey in the temple because of his mature appearance and the monkey head and monkey brain.

And the ape is the Taoist child of the god of Eizan protector Hiyoshi Mingjin. In religious circles, Hiyoshi is a good name for the monkey.

Therefore, when others call Hiyoshi, it has a little more meaning of ridicule.

"Didn't you tell you not to call me X-Ji?". Kinoshita Tojiro turned his head unhappily and said.

In this regard, Wasuka Masakatsu just smiled and said, "It's called getting used to it, forget it, I'm here to tell you that the rafts released from the upper reaches of the Hida River have been fished out of Matsukura Beach." ”

"Great."

Kinoshita Toyoshiro's loud voice sounded immediately, and Fang Cai's unhappiness disappeared, and his face showed a snorting joy.

Then Kinoshita Toyoshiro said to himself: "Starting from Matsukura Beach, this batch of timber can reach this place in only half a day, and with this ready-made timber, my time in building a castle in Sumamata can be greatly shortened, and maybe I can build a castle overnight."

Wasuka Masakatsu also said: "Okay, Hiyoshi, let me tell you another news, I have contacted the nearby wealthy clans, and they have all promised to contribute to the construction of this castle, but they have asked for the promotion to the samurai of the Oda family after the war. ”

"There's no problem, everything can satisfy them," Kinoshita Toyoshiro agreed, "As long as I can build this castle, I will be able to get ahead in the near future." ”

After speaking, Kinoshita Toyoshiro couldn't help but think of what the lord Oda Nobunaga said to him before leaving.

If you can't build a castle, you can't take Minong. If you can't do it, you can't open the Omi channel. If Omi is blocked, it will not be possible to unify the world

"The ambition of the lord is the ambition of my monkey, if there is no promotion of the lord to me, my monkey is still selling needles and changing plates, wandering around, so I must achieve it for the lord."

Thinking of this, Kinoshita Tojiro shook his fist vigorously, and the whole person radiated a high-spirited momentum.

"By the way, this time the kid in the upper reaches of the Hida River is back, and he said that a fierce battle broke out in Hida last month, and the Takeda Army has destroyed the two wealthy sisters of Hida, the Koji family and the Eima family, and now they have unified Hida."

"What, unify Hida" Kinoshita Toyoshiro showed a look of surprise in his eyes, and then said, "The general of the Takeda family guarding Hida, isn't it Li Xiao?" Unbelievable, how he did it. ”

Wasuka Masakatsu immediately disagreed, and said: "What's strange about this, Hida Country is very barren, and in terms of stone height, even a county in Owari Province is far from comparable. ”

Kinoshita Toyoshiro shook his head and said, "No, Hida is poor, but it is very important. The Lord has said that if Shingen captures Hida, he can attack Mino from both sides of Hida and Shinano at the same time, so that our speed must be increased, otherwise Kai's tiger will seize Shinano first. ”

"Li Xiao relied on the strength of one person and did not mobilize the army of his own family, and he actually unified Hida. This kind of character is the goal I will pursue in the future, and I will start with this ink stock. ”

Echichu, Kasuga Mountain Castle.

Uesugi Kenshin sat in the main hall and listened to Kato Duanzo report to him that this time the Takeda family had pacified Hida.

After finishing the narrative, Kato Duanzang said: "I didn't expect that Li Xiao actually killed his sister Xiaoji Lianglai with a big iron cannon and turned the tide of the battle, it's really incredible. ”

Naoe Jinggang said: "The big iron cannon is not a rare thing, and the family also has the Yamaguchi flow artifact cannon, such a big iron cannon, but the sister Xiaolu Lianglai is rare and strange, so he was defeated by Li Xiao." ”

Uesugi Kenshin slowly stood up with a rosary in his hand and said, "That's not the case, the weapon is profitable, it also depends on the person who uses it, and the big iron cannon is also available in the family, but because it is bulky and not easy to carry, it has not been valued and used. But Li Xiao found its effect. ”…,

"I guess that this time Li Xiao was able to hit the main formation of the sister road army, it was to use the height of Tianshen Mountain to shoot condescendingly, so he succeeded. Otherwise, no matter how bad the army strategy is, Li Xiao will never be allowed to bring a weapon like a big iron cannon close to his own formation. ”

"Exactly." Kato Duanzo admired it in his heart, and although Uesugi Kenshin had not yet arrived on the battlefield, he guessed the situation well.

Naoe Jingzuna continued: "My lord, the Hida sister Koji family, although the Eima family is ostensibly subordinate to the Takeda family, they are actually secretly contacting us. At present, Li Xiao is determined to fight in a battle, and there is no future trouble, and we have lost the bargaining chip to contain the Takeda family. ”

When Uesugi Kenshin heard this, he pondered for a while, and said: "Takeda Shingen's three-sided encirclement of my Echigo is gradually becoming a trend, and a loss of Hida is equivalent to completely opening up the passage for Shingen to enter Echichu, so I can only rely on the Kambo family and the Shiina family." ”

Naoe Jinggang said: "My lord, at present, Yuezhong has always fought together in Zengshan Castle, and it will no longer be the original power, and it is difficult to guess the thoughts of the head of the Jinbao family and the Shiina family, if Shingen enters Yuezhong, it is difficult to guarantee that he will not defect, so instead of relying on the Shenbao long-term position to resist the invasion of Takeda, it is better to completely control the Jinbao and Shiina families in our hands." ”

Uesugi Kenshin responded to Naoe Keixuna's suggestion and remained silent.

And Naoe Keixuna thought that Uesugi Kenshin was also concerned about morality, so he couldn't bear to decide.

At this time, Kato Duanzang said: "My lord, just a few days ago, our Xuanyuan detectives heard the news that the nephew of the chief of the gods, the sons of the gods, and the old temple and island of the family, are secretly contacting Takeda Shingen. ”

"What?" Kenshin Uesugi asked in a deep voice, "Is the news accurate?" ”。

Kato Duanzo said with a sigh, "Although there is no evidence, my subordinates have seen that the Shinobu no Suke of the Troubled Waves has been in and out of the Jimboh Nagaju Residence. After I sent a ninja to follow Kusanosuke, he escaped for the other party. ”

Uesugi Kenshin wrapped the rosary around his wrist, his eyes flashed, and he said: "This news is not groundless, I received a secret report from the Takeda family before, saying that Takeda Shingen was originally an order, and Li Xiao went out to fight in Echichu, not to capture Hida." I'm wondering why the Takeda family, whose Hida is undecided, dares to send troops to Vietnam. The only possibility is that Shingen has plotted against the Shinto family, Shiina family. At the moment, it seems that my judgment is not wrong. ”

Naoe Jinggang said: "My lord, since this is the case, the attitude of the god protector is very suspicious. It is necessary for us to order him to investigate this matter thoroughly, and if it is concluded that this is the case, not only will the gods keep the long-term residence, but also all those involved will have to be seppuku. ”

"Especially the Jimbo Changju, the Jimbo Changzhu has entered the Tao as a monk, it is said that there has long been the idea of letting the monk governor, if the Jimbo Changzhu inherits the family governor, then the Jimbo family will join forces with Hida's Li Xiao, so that Yuezhong is not only no longer owned by the Uesugi family, but Takeda Shingen has been trying to advance me in three ways The trend of Echigo has been formed."

Saying this, Naoe Jinggang took a few steps forward on his knees, bowed in front of Uesugi Kenshin and said, "Please make a decision as soon as possible, otherwise I will be in danger of going back." ”

Faced with the consequences of Naoe Keixuna's words, Uesugi Kenshin certainly understood, and he sighed and said, "As far as I know, Jimpo Choshi is very fond of his eldest son. For today's plan, the only way to do this is to let the god protect the long term, first let the god protect the long stay move to the spring mountain castle to live, and then we will secretly investigate the matter, if there is the truth, the god will only die. Now do what I want. ”

Kato Duanzang and Naoe Jingzuna snorted together.

After Kato and Naoe retreated, Uesugi Kenshin slowly looked out of the hall, and this year's situation has undoubtedly worsened for the Uesugi family.

After the fall of Minowa Castle last year, this year, the lord of Stablebridge Castle, Hojo Takahiro, was also rebelled by the Hojo family, so that the two major towns in the land of Ueno are no longer controlled by the Uesugi family. Echigo's route to the Kanto region had been blocked, and he was no longer able to compete with Hojo for supremacy in the Kanto region.

The Satake family, the Satomi family, and others who went with him in Odawara at the beginning, also heard that they secretly allied with the sworn enemy of the Uesugi family, Takeda Shingen, in order to continue to compete with the Hojo family.

In the eyes of Uesugi Kenshin, Takeda Shingen's purpose of seizing Nishiueno also has the ambition to get involved in Kanto and fight against the Hojo family.

The loss of the stable bridge castle changed the situation in the Kanto region for a while.

The loss of Ueno was already a difficult blow for Kenshin Uesugi, the titular Kanto governor.

At present, in the traditional sphere of influence of Echigo, the land of Echichu is also in danger of being lost, and the land of Hida has changed hands, and Echichu has been unimpeded, directly facing the military situation that may be in battle in the future of the Takeda family.

Now that the subordinates are in their own Jibo's family, they are beginning to think unpredictably, will this Echigo encirclement network woven by Takeda Shingen really take shape?

If Takeda Shingen is really allowed to go to that point, it will undoubtedly be the end of Echigo.

As Uesugi closed his eyes in contemplation, a seductive thought came to his mind.

That is the alliance with Hojo.

As soon as this idea came to him, Uesugi Kenshin immediately pressed it down, this is the idea of betraying righteousness, and if he allies with Hojo, he will undoubtedly betray the righteousness that he has always adhered to.

When Kenshin's nominal father, the former Kanto governor Uesugi Kenmasa, passed the position of Kanto governor to Kenshin, he wanted Kenshin to replace him, restore the name of the Uesugi family in Yamauchi, defeat his eldest son for him, and give him Hojo Shiyasu who humiliated him in the night battle.

Uesugi Kenmasa hoped that Uesugi Kenshin would be able to expel Hojo and retake Kanto.

This is also the purpose of Uesugi Kenshin when he accepted Uesugi Kenmasa's request and united 100,000 Kwantung coalition troops to fight in Odawara.

But if we don't unite with Hojo and fight against Takeda now, then Echigo will be ......in danger.