……，…… Like Tosa Province, Higo Province has had a good year this year, with a bumper rice harvest. In addition, the annual tribute in my territory is only forty percent, which is almost the lowest proportion in the entire Warring States, and the sons of the wealthy families are much more generous than in previous years. To this end, I shipped a large amount of high-quality goods such as cloth, paper, sweets, and seafood from Imabari to the castle towns of Hitoshi and Yatsushiro in Minami Higo, Kuma Prefecture and Aso in Kitahigo. These goods from the Kinai and even Ming provinces were very popular in Higo Province, and many wealthy samurai sold their surplus rice to the rice houses I set up in exchange for gold or Tensho money to spend, and the major castle towns became prosperous.

Although most of the weather in the country is due to the beauty of the heavens, the hearts of the people in the entire country are still biased towards my Kira family. After all, most of Higo Province is now under the rule of the Kira family.

The only ones that are not quite harmonious are Yamaga and Satsuta in the western part of Kitahigo. Among them, Yamaga County was owned by the Kumabe family, one of the elders of the Kikuchi family, and was once the most powerful wealthy family under the Kikuchi family. Satsuta-gun is governed by the castle family, and it is also one of the three elders of the Kikuchi family, and the Akashi family is the earliest branch of the Kikuchi family (separated during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, earlier than the Yonehara family, so the blood relationship is not as close as it), and their residence Kuma Honjo, located in the center of the Kumamoto Plain, the most fertile area in Higo Province, was the capital of Higo Province and the residence of the Kikuchi family for a long time.

In the Battle of Ogawa the year before last, the Otomo family was defeated, and the Kumabe family and the Jo family immediately turned away from the ostensibly subordinate Otomo family and threw themselves into Ryuzoji Takanobu. Among them, the Kumabe family, in the name of the Ryuzoji family, invaded the territory of the Chixing family, one of the three elders of the Kikuchi family, and seized their Kumafu Castle. This castle, also known as Kikuchi Castle, was once the starting place of the Kikuchi family, and after the Kikuchi family moved south and entered Kumamoto Castle, they handed over the castle and the old Kikuchi County to the Red Star family. Now that this city has been taken away by the Kumabe family, the Akaishi family is naturally extremely indignant, but the Kumabe family is the strongest among the retainers of the Kikuchi family, and the head of the family, the Red Star family, knows that he is invincible, so he has to knock out his teeth and swallow blood, admit this established fact, and then follow to take refuge in Ryuzoji Takanobu.

However, in the minds of the Akashi family, there was always a plan to focus on taking Kuma Castle, so when Shimazu Iehisa entered Aso Castle in the east of Kitahigo, he immediately sent an envoy to surrender to us and asked Shimazu Iehisa to help him recover Kuma Castle and the surrounding territories. After Shimazu Iehisa asked me for instructions, he joined forces with Maeda and Sawaki to put pressure on the Kumabe family, so that Kumabe Qinaga had to make concessions.

This incident made the Red Star Commander extremely grateful. After our Kikuchi Takeshige entered Beihi, he immediately expressed his stance as one of the Kikuchi clan and one of the three elders, supporting Kikuchi Takeshige to succeed him as the governor of the Kikuchi family, and entering the Kumamoto Castle of the Kikuchi family, and commanding the four wealthy clans of the four counties of the old leader of the Kikuchi family, including the hemp, satita, Yamamoto, and Tamana. Due to my own faith and the prestige of Shimazu Iehisa's defeat of the Otomo clan at the Battle of Otogawa, the castle family could not oppose this decision, so they agreed to allow Kikuchi Takeshige to be the governor of the clan and relinquished Kumamoto Castle. However, in secret, the head of the family, Kingen, reached an alliance with the equally disgruntled Kumabe Kinei, and still maintained contact with the Ryuzoji family, which was against us.

So far, there has been no direct conflict between our side and the Ryuzoji family, and all the competition is focused on the adjustment of the various wealthy families. And in this regard, it is clear that our side has an advantage. At present, most of the wealthy families after the Northern Hi Dynasty have at least superficially accepted the jurisdiction of Shimazu Iehisa and Kikuchi Takeshige; In the fifteen families of the big body after the construction, because the Lian Gate of Puchi Town of the Lower Puchi family was exterminated, the head of the Upper Puchi family, Puchi Jianguang, was killed as a son and a daughter of the hostages, and most of them broke with the Longzao Temple family; Even in the western part of Hizen Province, seeing the power of our naval forces, the Matsuura family in the northwest and the Omura family in the southwest did not have any other thoughts in their hearts.

By the time I arrived in Higo Province with the forces of Awa and Sanki, Maeda Toshiie and Sakyo Yoshiyuki in the south had basically won the approval of the wealthy clans, and they were able to lead a combined army of 5,000 to help. They met up with me at Yatsushiro Castle, numbering as many as 20,000 people, and then marched together to Hogo Kita.

The strength of 20,000 people is enough to turn the entire Higo country over, not to mention, I still have Tsushima, Kane, Hasuike Sanbei and Ii Chibei in hand, and it will not be a problem to deal with the Ryuzoji family at all. And with such a strong strength support, after I entered the Kuma Honjo Castle of Kitahigo, I immediately sent people to the Kumabe and the Castle clan very strongly, reprimanded the Kumabe and the Castle Kingen for their previous Yin Feng Yang violations, and ordered the two of them to bring their respective sons-in-law as hostages and come to Kumamoto Castle together to meet them.

Although this order was issued in the name of Shimazu Iehisa, the guardian of the Northern Higo family, and Kikuchi Takeshige, the governor of the Kikuchi family, all the wealthy families of Higo Province understood that since I was in Kuma Castle, it was naturally what I meant. And the content of the order, contrary to my previous generosity, also made many people who were matched with it very surprised, and the parents of Sanki Guardian Ikoma first raised a different opinion: "His Royal Highness's order is not only too strong, but also goes against the habits of the past, Kumabe and Sho Ken will definitely be suspicious, right?" ”

"Well, it is to make them suspicious, and to force them to make a final decision," I nodded, "if such an order can be accepted, it means that they have made up their minds to take refuge, and they can not be blamed for what they have done before; If I had other thoughts, I wouldn't have come, and I just had the name to conquer. ”

In fact, when I gave this order, I had already figured out the reaction of the two of them. I think that Jokingen will probably accept that after all, he is a branch of the Kikuchi family, and has a natural centripetal force towards the Kikuchi family, and his previous surrender of Kuma Castle is already an extremely important concession, and it also cuts off their biggest reliance on rebellion, because apart from Kuma Castle, his family has no strong castle anymore. Kumabe Kinaga, on the other hand, handed over Kumafu Castle and half of Kikuchi County, but still had the castles and villages in Yamaga County to rely on; Moreover, he himself is extremely ambitious, not only encroaching on the territory of the Akashi family, but also instigating the Higo people in history to rebel against Sasa Naruma's land inspection policy, resulting in Sasa Naimasa's territory being deprived and himself being forced to belly - and this is why I am so strong. I don't want to have such a hidden danger to hold me back when I play against Ryuzoji; I don't want to lead the army to leave, and there will be wealthy clans to oppose my next land seizure action.

What followed was pretty much the same as I estimated. Castle Ken soon came to Kumabe Castle to meet him, and sent his sister-in-law, Castle; Kumabe was reluctant to come to Jinjian, and he was unwilling to hand over his sister-in-law, Kumabe Qintai, so on the grounds that the father and son were in poor health, he asked for the second son, Kumabe's in-house, to replace Jinmi and serve as a hostage.

"Since neither Yamamori nor Shikibu Daisuke can act, then let's give up the position of head of the family to the second son who can act!" Shimazu Iehisa clearly understood my intentions, and when he and Kikuchi Takeshige met with the Kumabe family's envoy, they replied forcefully.

As a result, Kumabe Kinagaga immediately raised a counter-banner and gathered 3,000 ashigaru in the territory to garrison the castle and village castle. This was obviously a pre-prepared action, and it was also beyond the mobilization capacity of his 20,000-stone territory (more than 1,900 towns) in Yamaga County. In addition, he also united several wealthy families close to Higo Province, and complained to me about the arrogance of the Shimazu family, but secretly sent a submission messenger to the Hizen Ryuzoji family, asking Ryuzoji Takanobu to send troops to support.

After receiving the joint signature of Kumabe Jinnaga and others, I handed it directly to Shimazu Iehisa: "You can do it!" If you want to send troops, I will have the Maeda and Sawaki families of Minamihigo assist your Aso people, and support them with lotus ponds. ”

"Yes. Now send troops against them! Shimazu Iehisa laughed, "It's really a pleasure to do things by His Highness's side!" ”

I smiled and shook my head. According to my usual style, there are really not many times when I am so happy. However, only after the complete pacification of Kitahi can he defeat the Ryuzoji family more smoothly, and the predicted decisive battle has been scheduled to be commanded by Shimazu Iehisa, and the war against Kumabe Qinaga will be used as an opportunity for him to unite the Hokuhigo Hao clan and become familiar with the local situation.

And I have more important things to do.

……，…… In October, the days in Higo Province are still very warm, but there is a slight chill at night, reminding that winter has arrived. In the middle of the year, I finally received the news that I had been booked.

On the fourth day of October, Nobunaga returned to heaven at Honnoji Temple!

The news was sent by Koga-kung, and the messenger was Yamaoka Keizune's sister-in-law, Tarao Kuzo, who was still in charge of Ise Province himself. In the midst of this upheaval, this makes perfect sense. However, the specific circumstances of the matter were very different from my predictions. Akechi Mitsuhide did participate in the operation, but he was not the mastermind. The first to provoke the turmoil was Hatakeyama Yoshishu, who had just triumphed from the Koyasan front.

Hatakeyama Yoshishu's expedition to Koyasan was the beginning of the year when Shimazu Iehisa and I went to Azuchi Castle. After more than half a year of siege and more than a dozen skirmishes, Koyasan finally surrendered, surrendered 140,000 koku of the 150,000 stone temple domain, and dedicated the founding document of the Shingon sect nearly 800 years ago, when the then Emperor Saga enshrined Koyasan to Kukai Daishi. This document is the treasure of Koyasan's temple, the entire Shingon sect and even the entire Buddhist sect of Somoto, and it is not only the imperial pen of Emperor Saga, but also the handprint of Kukai Daishi himself, and its value is immeasurable. Even Nobunaga, who had always been unruly, attached great importance to this document, and personally came to Kyoto to greet him and hold a condolence ceremony for Hatakeyama Yoshishu.

Then, it happened suddenly. Hatakeyama Yoshishu united with Akechi Mitsuhide, who was staying in Settsu and was expected to travel to Kyushu via Shikoku, and surrounded Nobunaga's Honnoji Temple and Nobutada's Myokakuji Temple. After a short confrontation, Nobunaga and Nobutada seppuku, and most of the guards around them were also killed.

But anyway, Nobunaga finally passed away...... For a long time, Nobunaga has been like the trunk of a banyan tree that "grows alone", supporting the entire tree, and the retainers of the family are the rest of the branches. As the banyan tree grows larger and larger, these branches also take root and have considerable reading power to survive. However, if there has been any wind and rain, it is mainly Nobunaga, the pillar and center, who has borne it. Now that this pillar has collapsed, will the rest of the branches be able to sustain the entire tree? And which part will become the new backbone?

"How's Shinjing?" I asked hurriedly. That's what I'm most concerned about at the moment.

"The young lord is fine, he has retreated to Iga Province under the response of the young lord Jingzheng. Toshizo Saito of the Wise Department was ordered to pursue him, but soon retreated, seemingly suffering considerable losses. ”

"That's good." When I heard that Xinjing had successfully escaped, I was greatly relieved. This is what I am most concerned about, and I have told Keimasa to keep an eye on the movements in Kyoto before, and the last time I sent Maeno Keisei and the others, it was a very clear signal. It seems that Jing Zheng understood my intentions and successfully completed the task of answering my brother.

In the past two years, he has grown a lot, and he actually defeated Saito Rizo, presumably with the support of the Koga clan...... The painstaking efforts and arrangements that were said at the time were indeed not in vain.

At this time, I became concerned about the strangeness of the matter: "Why did Hatakeyama Yoshishu rebel?" Is he crazy?! ”

"According to Tsuya, when Hatakeyama Jingo was in charge of the exploration trade, he had intercepted a lot of profits and accepted donations from some wealthy families and merchants...... Maybe it was the exile of Hayashi Watari that made Hatakeyama Kingo worried! There is even news that His Royal Highness Zuofu came to Kyoto this time in person to deal with Hatakeyama Kingo, the Minami Omi army in Hatakeyama Kingo's army, and the wise Shou Xiangshou who stayed in Settsu, should have received relevant orders. ”

Is that so? I was lost in thought. According to the old shogunate style of Hatakeyama Yoshishu, it should not be wrong to withhold profits and accept donations, and the East Window incident happened at the same time as Lin Xiuzhen was punished. At that time, the Koyasan strategy was at the critical stage, and it was inconvenient for Nobunaga to dispose of Hatakeyama Yoshishu, who was the general of the expedition and personally led the armies of Kitakawachi and Kii, so as not to give up the strategy halfway, but now that the strategy was completed, he went to Kyoto in person, maybe he really had that purpose. And of the two armies that he relied on to prevent Hatakeyama Yoshishu from moving, the disgruntled Akechi Mitsuhide and Hatakeyama Yoshishu probably secretly connected with Hatakeyama Yoshishu and attacked him together; However, the Minami Omi army, which went out with Yoshishu, was directly subordinate to Nobunaga, so why didn't it resist?

"Minami Omi's military situation, what happened?" I asked Tarao Kuzo.

"Before arriving in Kyoto, I heard that Koyasan seemed to be repeated, and Minami Omi's army was ordered to turn back to Koyasan in order to maintain the local situation!" Dorao Kuzo replied.

"So, what's going on in Kinai now?" I pressed on.

"I'm so sorry! The subordinates don't know...... After receiving the information that the young master was safe, the righteous brother immediately ordered him to come and report to His Highness! Dorao Kuzo reported.

"And what about the Hatakeyama Yoshishu rebellion?" I frowned slightly.

"It was Master Tianhai who turned around," Dorao Kuzo immediately replied, "Master Tianhai also said that the time is rare, please make a decision as soon as possible, don't have any hesitation!" ”

(To be continued)