San'in and Sanyo are mountainous, and most of the land is very barren, and among the two and sixteen countries, only Harima and Beizen are slightly more fertile, and the stone height of Keicho is more than 300,000 at the time of land inspection, and none of the eleven countries currently controlled by the Maori family can have a stone height of more than 200,000 stones. It can be seen from this that the military strength of nearly 100,000 Hao families gathered by the Maori family is at what level of personnel quality and combat effectiveness is.

This time against the 47,000 men of Maori Terumen, I have also seen the combat power of these wealthy clans, and to put it mildly, if I am willing to bear a certain number of casualties, I am quite sure that I can defeat him. It's just that it was a wrong war in the first place, and it was not only unnecessary to stick to it, but also a thankless task. Even if I try to defeat Mori Terumoto, I will not be able to occupy any territory and receive additional rewards other than paying considerable casualties, but I may be ordered to continue the attack on Kamitsuki Castle, and even arouse Nobunaga's wariness and the jealousy of my colleagues.

The current Mori family is the overlord-level daimyo after Nobunaga, and the honor of defeating the main force of the Mori family governor is too great, and in the Oda family, only Nobunaga and Nobutada, who are the family governors, can bear it.

However, if the opponent is the Ukika, you can still rest assured that you can only take Kojima-gun. Although the chief general of Sanyo Province is Hideyoshi, and the Bizen Kunisho of the Uki family should be in charge of him, with the affection between me and him, he won't mind much if he crosses the line a little bit like this. Moreover, he is currently busy stabilizing Harima Province and embarking on a crusade against Beschoji, and I have contained the Ukita Naoya on Kojima's side, which can be regarded as alleviating the threat to his west.

Soon after separating from the forces of the Shikoku people, we once again set foot on the land of the former country. Considering the speed of the soldiers, I asked Iyi Nobunao's Iyi Bei and Miyata and Joto's triple preparation to rest for a while, and then immediately marched towards Tokiyama Castle. The rest of the Tsushima, Kane, and Awaji Sanbei also left Shimotsui Minato under my leadership not long after.

As it turned out, this decision was too wise. When Iyi Nobunao's Ibi arrived at Toyama Castle, Togawa Toyasu, the lord of Toyama Castle, was about to enter the castle. Not long ago, he relieved Okayama Castle of his duties to the Ukita Nao family, who had returned to Okayama Castle, and led the 1,000 troops of his headquarters to escort his family back to the castle, but he unexpectedly met the 500 cavalry of Ii Nobunao. Nobunao Ii immediately made a decision and led his troops to launch an assault on the Togawa family's army, successfully dispersing the unsuspecting Senashigaru, capturing Lady Takatori of the main room of Togawa Toyasu, Mrs. Ishikawa of the side room, and the only son of Togawa Heisuke, and firmly controlling the vicinity of the castle gate. Togawa Tongan originally refused to give up and wanted to deal with Ii Nobuzhi, but when he saw that the triple preparation of Miyata Mitsuji and Joto Kazuki also caught up, he reluctantly gave up the rescue and led more than 800 people gathered to Okayama Castle for help.

By the time my headquarters arrived, Kazuki Shiroto had completely occupied the castle, and Ii Nobunao had sent several sentries to the north to closely monitor the movements of Okayama Castle. I am very pleased with this thoughtful handling. Their group of young people can be regarded as having grown up initially, and the prosperity of their family is therefore greatly guaranteed.

"You're doing a great job! …… Later, the three of you will also participate with Jingsheng! I commanded.

"Yes." The three of them received their orders one after another, and some joyful and excited looks appeared on their faces. It was a great honor to be able to participate in the military council, and it also marked that they had become important generals of the Kira family.

At this moment, a sentinel sent out by Jing Yi Xuanzhi returned. They brought two people, one was Togawa Tongyasu, who had previously retreated, and the other was a middle-aged man of the same age as Togawa Tongyasu, and judging by his demeanor and demeanor, his status should be similar to Togawa Tongyasu.

Maybe it was because he ate our defeat, and lost his castle and his wife, Togawa Tongan's face sank like water, and after entering the hall, he gave a slight salute, and then sat upright without saying a word. Obviously, if there is any mission to meet me this time, it will not be him, but someone else.

Then, the only people who can surpass him as the speaker are Nagafune Sadakin, Oka Toshi, who are also the three elders of Ukita, or the younger brother of the Ukita Naoka, Ukita Tadada...... Then another person reported his name aloud, confirming my suspicion: "The foreign minister Uki family elder Nagafune Sadakin, meet His Royal Highness Kira Kingo!" ”

"Your Highness the longship? It's been famous for a long time," I nodded, "I heard that His Highness Nagase's family is one of the most important ministers in the Uki family, and he is especially good at rhetoric...... Isn't that so? ”

"I really don't dare to be a false praise of Kira Kingo," Nagafune Sadako looked very modest, "The Maori family's willingness to help is the kindness of the warden, and at the same time, it also depends on the reputation of the head of the family, how dare the foreign minister take credit?" ”

"That's the case," I knew in my heart that the Ukita family seemed to be quite confident, so I stopped the tentative move, "So, what is His Highness Nagase's here for?" ”

"On the orders of the head of the family, the foreign minister has come to redeem the family members of the Togawa family who were taken captive by His Royal Highness Kingo's retainers, and by the way, he has reached a contract with His Highness Kingo." Long Boat Zhen bowed in person.

"By the way, make a deal with me? Incidentally? I couldn't help but laugh.

Not only me, but even Xiujing, who accompanied the reception, also laughed: "Does His Highness the Long Boat feel that this matter is so insignificant?" ”

The foreign minister did not think so, "Nagafune is in debt," and the foreign minister felt that although this matter was important, it was very easy to do. With the wisdom of His Royal Highness Kira Kingo, it should be understood that it is not suitable to cross the sea and entangle with the family. ”

"Why?" I asked with interest.

"When the foreign minister came, the head of the family told him like this...... The head of the family said that judging from the confrontation with the Maori family and the subsequent abandonment of the occupied territory, His Royal Highness Kira Kingo was a person who knew how to advance and retreat, was unwilling to waste his military strength, and had a very clear judgment of the situation. Therefore, this time, His Royal Highness Jin Wu went down and returned, the purpose was not to fight with his own family, but just to recover the loss of the battle, and at the same time to regain some dignity. Nagafune Sadako relayed the words of Naoya Ukita.

This is really an old fox, and he has already grasped my psychology very thoroughly. I had to nod. Indeed, I didn't mean to fight with the Ukita Naoya, I just wanted him to pay. Just now, I was thinking about how I could try to avoid casualties on my own side while seizing compensation. After all, the Ukita Nao family is not an easy person, although the autumn harvest is imminent, and it is inconvenient to gather the army, but he still has some assassins under him, and he has successfully assassinated a daimyo Mimura family, the lord of a city, and others such as Motosho, the lord of a city. Now that they are in their hometown, it is more convenient to act, and if they really want to force the Ukita Naojia in a hurry, they would rather die with me, so no matter which young man in the army has been injured (Ii Xuanzhi died in the history of iron cannon sniping), I will lose more than I gain.

Now that he understands what I mean, he may be able to resolve the matter through negotiations, in order to avoid greater losses on both sides in the event of a battle.

I took out the momentum of the general of the four countries: "In other words, His Royal Highness Ukita Quanzhou has come to his senses?" So, how much is His Highness Quanzhou ready to pay to compensate me? The strength of 45,000 troops is not only huge, but the consumption is also very huge! ”

"Regarding this, the head of the family is already prepared," Sadako Nagafune said, nodding to Togawa Tsuyasu. The latter's face was even more gloomy, but he still took out two folding books from his arms and put them in front of the longship sada.

"This is the Kojima-gun Kana Directory (samurai directory) and the domain sub-ledger (domain division), a total of 178 samurai, and the total stone height of the territory is 25,600 koku...... If His Royal Highness Kira Kingo is willing to return the family members of the Togawa family, these domains and this year's harvest will be used as a ransom paid by the Togawa family! Sadako Nagafune said.

"Just ransom?" I was a little surprised. It is really generous enough to exchange the whole family's territory for two wives and concubines and a son.

This reminds me of a piece of information I just got a while ago. It is said that Kobayakawa Takakei seems to be preparing to ask the Ukita family to build a strong water village to threaten the port of Utatsu and the sea route on the other side of the river in order to confront my navy. With the current situation, as well as the kindness of this rescue, the Uki family could not refuse Kobayakawa Takakei's request. At that time, the navy that was tied up to Kobayakawa Takakei, even if the Ukita Naokie family was unwilling, would follow Kobayakawa Takakei to fight me at sea. Is it because of this that he has thrown Kojima to me cheaply? Is it because you don't want to fight with me with the Maori family?

I also don't know what compensation the Ukita family will give to Togawa Toyasu, a powerful minister, and that's not something I need to care about. In short, it seems that there is no problem in getting Kojima Ichi-gun.

I nodded: "Then, I will agree to the peace agreement." However, how should the compensation for the withdrawal of soldiers be calculated? ”

"I can't agree to this one," Nagafune shook his head resolutely, "If His Highness Jingo really has the heart to reach a peace agreement, he shouldn't ask us for money, so what's the difference between that and surrender?" …… Moreover, we believe that the ransom for the redemption of the Togawa family can already compensate for the loss of His Royal Highness Kira Kingo. ”

He did have a point, but in fact he was paying the ransom under the guise of avoiding the reputation of paying money to retreat from the enemy. However, in this way, our reputation is not very good, and it seems that we have made a special trip to the former country to kidnap the family members of other people's families to extort ransom. Moreover, considering the Maori family's requirements for him, Kojima-gun shouldn't be able to sell it so expensive, and if the Ukita Naoya really doesn't want to fight against me, it's even a hot potato.

Since he was so calculating, I also decided to bargain, so I gestured to Xiujing with my eyes.

Xiujing understood what I meant, and took the words of the longship Zhenqin very tacitly: "If this is the case, we seem to have lost it?" Tsuneyama Castle has been occupied by our side, and Kojima-gun will soon be ours, how can the Ukido family use this as a ransom? ”

"I think that Kojima-gun is the most suitable place, and if it were somewhere else, I am afraid that His Highness Kira Kingo may not be satisfied," Nagafune Sadako paused, with a smile on his face, "...... Moreover, even if the head of the family is willing to concede the entire Bizen country, will His Royal Highness Kira Kingo accept it? I'm afraid that His Royal Highness the Right General won't allow it, and His Royal Highness Yura Zhushu won't be willing, right? ”

"Is that all?" Hidekei also replied, "As far as I know, Kobayakawa Takakei of the Mori family seems to have recently made a request to His Highness Quanzhou, hoping to bring the Ukita Naval Army under his command and use Kojima as a base...... In other words, for the sake of this territory, we may have to fight Kobayakawa again, right? ”

Hearing Hidejing shake out Kobayakawa Takakei's request for Kojima, Nagafune Sadakina looked very shocked, and her face changed for the first time. But in his reply, he didn't want to show weakness at all: "Even if there is this matter, is His Royal Highness Kira Kingo afraid of the power of His Highness Mihara?" ”

"How is that possible? He should be the one who is afraid! I waved my fan and stopped him from playing further.

Through the previous conversations, I was able to get a rough idea of what I wanted, and at the same time I was able to see the demeanor of the Ukita family's retainers, and through Nagafune's narration, I was able to learn about the Ukita family's personal abilities and some ideas.

There is no doubt that Ukita Naoke is a smart man, and he has a lot of experience and knows people's hearts, and he can guess my thoughts very thoroughly; He's also a realistic person.,This time he sent out Kojima-gun.,Although it seems that you've lost part of your territory.,But this territory will be lost sooner or later.,He took the opportunity to hand it over to me.,Not only to avoid war with me in the territory.,Also to avoid disputes with me at sea.,At the same time, he can also explain to Kobayakawa Takake.,It's really a wonderful move for Mingzhe to protect himself.。

The retainers of the Uki family also have their own style and bones, and they have considerable ability and vision. However, in the future, it was almost a battle of wills, which really didn't make sense.

Putting away the folding fan, I nodded to Sadako Nagafune: "I know that you are a radical general, but His Royal Highness Ukita Quanzhou and His Royal Highness Nagafune should know that my navy is far stronger than the Maori family's navy, and has roughly controlled the entire Seto Inland Sea. Therefore, it is wiser to leave Kojima to us than to join forces with the Mori family and fight us at sea...... In the same way, the name and strength of the Mori family are much worse than those of the Oda family. The strength of the headquarters of the head of the Maori family can't even overpower me, and I hope that His Royal Highness Ukita Quanzhou will have some thoughtful consideration on how to choose in the future. And this time, it may be a good fate...... Please bring my words to His Highness Quanzhou. ”

"Yes. The minister must have brought these words to the head of the family. Nagafune replied with a respectful bow. Even Togawa Doyasu, although I lost my family's territory, heard these words, and was silent and owed.

(To be continued)