……，…… The development of events was similar to what I expected. After receiving the news of the death of the Ukita family, the Mori family quickly gathered 40,000 troops and launched an attack on the country of Beizen.

At the beginning, the Uki family deviated, which dealt a great blow to the Mori family, and almost reversed the offensive and defensive posture of the Oda and Mori families in Sanyo Road. In the two years since then, the Mori family has been blocked by the Uki family, and they are no longer able to go eastward, but instead lose the two countries of Tajima and Inaba, who are famous in San'in Mountain. For them, the Uki family is a veritable thorn in the side, and now that the Nao family is dead and the Oda family is in chaos, it can be said that it is the best time to solve the Uki family.

As for me, they may think that I have just pacified Chikuzen and Bunzen, and there is probably no way to send troops directly; Moreover, although Hizen's Ryuzoji Temple was crippled, it hasn't been pacified yet, so even if I want to send troops, it will be an attack on Ryuzoji Temple!

It's not unreasonable to think so, and I really can't draw too many troops from Bunzen and Chikuzen. However, I still have people from the Shimazu family to use, and when the army was disbanded before, I promised Shimazu that I could give them a country and a half in Sanyang, and with the example of Shimazu Iehisa in front of them, they would definitely be willing to fight for me; In addition, I can also dispatch two standing armies, the Utsunomiya family and other wealthy families in Toyozen who have already given the security blocking documents, and they can also provide four or five thousand people, so that there are almost more than 20,000 troops, and the combat power is very prominent, and it is definitely stronger than the 40,000 Hao clan alliance of the Maori family.

After some consideration, I sent the Kanie Bei of Wasuka Keikatsu and Tsubouchi Toshita, as well as the triple of Miyata Mitsuji and Kazuki Shiroto to Hizen Province to replace Shimazu Iehisa and Tsushima and Hasuike Bi, who were monitoring the Ryuzoji family, and at the same time handed over the documents ordering Satsuma Kuni to go out into battle, and asked him to lead the Anlan detachment and transport fleet to Kagoshima to prepare to transport reinforcements from the Satsuma Shimazu family.

There are a lot of samurai in the Satsuma Shimazu family, and after the reduction of the seal from the three countries of southern Kyushu to one country, many people have reduced their knowledge and practice, and they have lived a very tight life. In my case, this is a very volatile factor; And in the position of those people, there is an urgent need to acquire new territories. Especially Shimazu Yoshihiro, who originally ruled Osumi Province and was in charge of the strategy in the direction of Higo Province, now not only is the division of the country gone, but the opportunity to make contributions is gone, in addition to resentment, he may not envy the Shimazu Iehisa, who led the Northern Higo and defeated the Ryuzoji family! Therefore, after receiving my paperwork, the Shimazu family immediately took action, and soon gathered a full army of 15,000 troops, led by Shimazu Yoshihiro, to Chikugo Province.

At this time, I was building the Tenjin Mountain Castle. Based on the original Tachibanayama Castle, the castle was expanded on seven peaks centered on Mt. Matsuo, creating a fortified castle that stood east of Hakata Port. Since Mt. Tachibana, also known as Mt. Fukami, was the residence of Izanagi and Izanami, the gods who created heaven and earth in this mythology, I changed the Shinjo to its current name as the center of the Kira family's rule in Kyushu.

When the fleet arrived at Hakata Port, I summoned Shimazu Iehisa to Matsuo Takehonmaru, who was already in full shape, and asked him to lead Tsushima to meet him. The cavalry in this reserve was composed of all samurai under the command of Shimazu Iehisa, and Shimazu Yoshihiro would probably be very pleased to have lured the enemy into an ambush in the Battle of Okita, so that they could meet the Shimazu family's army with their families.

Shimazu Iehisa understood this too, and he gladly accepted the task.

But before he left, I suddenly reminded him: "Jiajiu, please pay attention to your current position!" ”

"Where do I stand?" Shimazu Iehisa smiled, "Your Majesty understands. His Majesty is now the guardian of the Kira family's Northern Higo. ”

After the Battle of Okita and the Akizuki Raid, the dominance of the Kira family in Kyushu was unshakable, and Shimazu Iehisa officially presented his oath of allegiance as a retainer to the Governor Nobuya.

"Not only that," I shook my head, "this time I will go to Nagato Province, I am going to use you as the main general, His Royal Highness Yoshihiro as the deputy general, and then Satake Nobuhide will serve as the military commissioner, leading the Hasuike Bei and the Bungo Hao clan to guard the back road and be responsible for logistics and supplies...... Therefore, you should treat Satsuma's reinforcements as a leading general. ”

"Is it up to your subordinates to be the commanders?" Shimazu Iehisa was a little surprised. When he was in the Shimazu family before, as the younger brother of the concubine, although his status was second only to Shimazu Yoshihiro, the gap was insurmountable. He certainly didn't think that one day he would crush Yoshihiro Shimazu in turn.

"Is that good?" He raised his head and looked at me with blazing eyes, "Satsuma has 15,000 troops, but his subordinates only have 5,000 men from Tsushima Bei and Kitahigo......"

"This time, you are my acting officer, so naturally you are in charge of the position of commander-in-chief," I also looked at him, and said in a joking tone, "As for the question of troops...... Let's not talk about Xuanxiu's lotus pond preparation and Fenggo Guozhong, who are also under your match; Even if it is not, is the position of the main general to see who is stronger? In that case, why don't we have a fight with Satsuma Kunigen? ”

The hall laughed. Shimazu Iehisa also laughed.

"So, you have to show the courage to do it," I said further, "The person who can defeat the 'Goshu Taishou' Ryuzoji Takanobu will not even have the responsibility to rule the people of Satsuma, right?" ”

"Then Your Majesty will receive the order," Shimazu Iehisa naturally did not want to be looked down upon, "I will not disappoint the main hall and the head of the family!" ”

"Hmm," I nodded, "when you fight, you might as well let the Satsuma people be the main force, and His Royal Highness Yoshihiro will have to earn merit in exchange for territory." As for your share, it will certainly be indispensable as the main general, and I will also give you a considerable reward. ”

……，…… When the Kichibo Doll was elected as the governor, the important ministers of the Oda family made an agreement, the most important clause of which was that everyone was unanimous and that they were not allowed to start wars at home. To this end, Hideyoshi Yura, Nobuyi, Katsuie Shibata, Nobutaka Oda, Nobuo Oda, Nagahide Niwa, and Tokugawa Ieyasu also exchanged affidavits with each other and made commitments to their respective duties. Among the seven, the four families of Kira, Hara, Shibata, and Tokugawa were still in charge of Nobunaga's strategy to pacify the four regions of Saikaido (Kyushu), Sanyo Province, Hokuriku Province, and Tokaido respectively, while Oda Nobutaka, Oda Nobuo, and Niwa Nagahide had to provide timely support and participate in the division of the new domain.

This agreement was largely complied with in the first few months, and although Hideyoshi and Shibata had always been at odds with each other, and Nobuo was extremely dissatisfied with Nobutaka's tenure as the posterior, the dispute between them for dominance and territory was initially resolved within the framework of the agreement, without resorting to force. Hideyoshi received information that the Mori family intended to invade Bizen, and immediately sent troops to support, and according to the agreement, asked Nobutaka and the other three to help.

Let Nobutaka raise troops to support Hideyoshi, of course he was unwilling. Before, the relationship between the two was very stiff because of the dispute over the name and generation, and now as the renovation work of Azuchi Castle is about to be completed, Hideyoshi has been remotely controlling Hori Hidemasa to ask Nobutaka for the doll of Master Yoshi, so that Nobutaka cannot advance or retreat. What's more, this time it was to rescue the Uki family under Hideyoshi, and even if he won't get any benefits, why should he serve Hideyoshi?

However, the agreement reached by everyone, he is not good to openly disobey, this hindsight position, Nobuo and Hideyoshi are eyeing it!

Nobutaka thought hard and finally came up with a perfunctory plan for Hideyoshi, so he sent a letter to Shibata Katsuie, asking Katsuya to immediately attack the Echigo Province of the Uesugi family, and also asked the center for reinforcements.

At this moment, Xinxiao has a reason to shirk. Although Hideyoshi made a request before Shibata, Shibata was engaged in an offensive war, which was to carry out Nobunaga's strategy, and it seemed that there was more reason to receive support than Hideyoshi's defensive battle...... Nobutaka was naturally inclined towards Shibata, and he was quick to express his attitude; Nobuo supported Hideyoshi's appeal, perhaps out of the psychology of doing it, or it may have reached some secret agreement with Hideyoshi; However, Niwa Nagahide was in a dilemma, his position was the same as the position of the territory, and it was sandwiched between Hideyoshi's Yamashiro and Tanba and Shibata's Kita-Omi and Echizen, which could be described as a dilemma, and it was difficult to support either side.

In the end, he took a very moderate approach, and in the name of the center, he ordered the Yamato Tsutsui and Tango Hosokawa families, which belonged to the Oda family, to support Hideyoshi, while he himself led the southern Omi army to aid Hokuriku...... Receiving this information, which was delivered by Keimasa Ueno Castle and forwarded by Shinkei from Imabari Castle, I understood Nagahide's intentions. There is no doubt that this is another compromise plan, the Hosokawa family has actually already thrown himself into Hideyoshi, he is just posthumously acknowledging it this time, as for the Tsutsui family, the position has always been inclined to my Kira family, this time with the support of the Ikoma family in Kitakawachi, it is to participate on behalf of the center and the Kira family, and it can be regarded as serving as Hideyoshi's supervisor for Niwa Nagahide, who went to Hokuriku. It's just that although this has temporarily solved the problem, except for the Kira family, which has faded out of the center, and the Tokugawa family, which is an outsider, the rest of the Oda family has been faintly divided into two camps, and Niwa Nagahide has no choice but to reluctantly turn between the two sides.

"The head of the family said that the Dinghai detachment had been handed over to His Highness Yijing, and it was joined forces with the Fubo detachment of Lord Iwamatsu, and preparations were made to attack Shanyang...... The head of the family asked his subordinates to ask for instructions from the main hall, when can they go out of the battle? ”

"When His Royal Highness Hideyoshi signs a peace treaty with the Maori family, you can attack the Maori family." I replied.

"Negotiate peace with the Mori family......" Kaneko Mototaku, who was the messenger, looked at me in surprise, "Will His Highness Chikuzen negotiate peace with the Mori family?" ”

"Yes," I nodded, "with the strength of His Highness Hideyoshi, it will be difficult to separate the winner from the Maori family in a short period of time. Comparatively speaking, it was easier for His Royal Highness Shibata to deal with the Uesugi family, who had suffered a great injury, lost the position of Kanto governor, and were in the same situation as the Hojo family. With this in mind, and the current situation in which the two sides are close to splitting, His Royal Highness Hideyoshi will certainly negotiate peace with the Maori family soon, so as to avoid the worries of the west. ”

"But when the time comes, will it be appropriate for us to requisition the Maori family? Will it affect the relationship with the Yuliang family, as well as the reputation of the family in the outside world? Jin Ziyuan bowed down and bowed, "It's not that the subordinates dare to question the main hall, but they must first find out these two things, so as not to be unable to explain to the head of the family." ”

"Well, you've thought it through," I complimented him, "and don't worry about your relationship with the Yura family. His Royal Highness Hideyoshi and I already had a tacit understanding that I would attack Sanyo, so that he would not have to worry about the Maori family...... As for the reputation of the family, you can reassure Xinjing. At this time, it is time for the family to show considerable reading power and ambition to unify the western country. Of course, I'll come up with enough crusade when the time comes. ”

"Yes. Your Majesty understood. His Majesty must convey the consideration of the main hall to the head of the family. "Jin Ziyuan Mansion owes a debt," the palace is busy with official business, and his subordinates will retire. ”

"Don't be busy yet," I waved to stop him, "The envoy of Ueno Castle, in addition to bringing back this news, did you report any information from Ise?" ”

"Regarding Ise, there is nothing important, Sannomaru Hall and Lord Xuannao, they are all acting according to the orders of the main hall. Sannomaru had already extended the power of the family to the whole of Kita-Ise, and vigorously purchased military rations from the five countries of Owari, Mino, Ise, Mikawa, and Enoe, and shipped them to the newly built Quanzhou Castle in Kinai; Lord Xuanzhi fought in Suruga, and repeatedly repelled the newly formed red cavalry of the Takeda family, and won the respect of the Tokugawa family, and even the enemy Takeda family admired the bravery of Lord Xuannao. Jin Ziyuan reported.

"So, what's going on with His Highness Minami Ise's Envelope?" I continued.

"His Highness Matsushima (Nobuo had built Matsushima Castle and is now stationed in Shinbo) was very worried about the situation in the center, especially the dispute between His Highness Gifu and His Highness Kiyoshu, and although he wanted to mediate, he had no name in the center and was located in the southern Ise area, so it was not convenient for him to go out to support Sanyo and Hokuriku...... However, His Royal Highness Matsushima has a very good impression of the main hall and my Kira family, and the last time Lord Hoshin-in returned to Tosa, he specially sent an envoy to Mie Castle to see him off. ”

"Really?" I smiled. Oda Nobubu's former territories were my earliest Tsushima and Kanie Castle, and the two families were neighbors for a long time, and they once pacified Nagashima with me, so the relationship can be said to be very good. That's why, the last time the territory was divided, I advocated handing over all 200,000 koku to Minami Ise (historically it was increased to 150,000 koku from Anongtsu Castle). In this way, with the addition of Nagano Fujitsu in Nakaise, the whole of Ise can almost be co-opted by me.

"By the way, I heard that Princess Tokuhime is also in Matsushima Castle?" I asked, groaning.

"Yes," Jin Ziyuan Mansion glanced up at me, quickly lowered his head, and asked respectfully, "What are the instructions of the main hall?" ”

“…… Never mind! "I thought about it for a while and gave up the idea of letting Tokuji and Jing Zheng marry. Let's not talk about Jing Zheng's messy hobbies, will it make Deji crazy again; Even if Tokuhime can't give birth, it's no longer suitable to serve as Jing Zheng's main room. Otherwise, it would be a big pity that the Renmu family did not have a genuine son-in-law.

"You go down first!" I commanded with a wave of my hand.

(To be continued)