I'm not worried about not being able to defeat the Akizuki family. As far as I'm concerned, no force in Kyushu can pose a real challenge to me. The Shimazu family has surrendered, not to mention him, among the other families, although the Ryuzoji family seems to be powerful, it is actually a scattered mess, and as long as it encounters setbacks, it will immediately fall apart; The Otomo family has experienced repeated setbacks, and the internal affairs are in shambles, and there is not much vitality left in the heyday of the year, and after giving up the responsibility of Higo Province, with the departure of the Kamaike family, Chikugo Province is actually out of the grasp of the Otomo family; As for the Akizuki family, although the momentum of its rise is extremely strong, it greatly relies on the wealth of Hakata Port, and in addition, it is just a small dragon temple family.

The reason for the temporary reluctance to enter Kitakyushu is mainly due to the possibility of accidents. In any case, once I get involved in the conflict in Kitakyushu, I will definitely not be able to get out of it in a short time, so even if something happens, I will not be able to respond in time, so I will waste some precious time.

This is a very probable thing, and it is my analysis based on the historical trajectory, the actual situation, and the surnames of the parties. This method of analysis is already familiar to me, and it has been confirmed many times by the development of events, and it has also allowed me to grasp and make use of relevant events after things have deviated from the historical track.

Compared to the current situation, although the Takeda clan has not yet been conquered, great progress has been made in Kyushu, and if nothing else, there is no force that can stop the unification of the Oda clan. In view of this, it was heard that the Imperial Court had urged Nobunaga to choose one of the three posts of Taisei Minister, Sekihakuzo Minister, and Seiyi Shogun, and to formalize his title as ruler of the world.

On the other hand, the situation of the people's hearts in Kinai is already very serious, almost to the point of being on the verge of eruption. Not long ago, Hayashi Xiuzhen, who presided over the money seat, lost her foot, and was found to have embezzled illegal acts by Nobunaga, so she was dealt with similarly to Sakuma Nobumori, and the family was exiled to Kumano; As if echoing Nobunaga, Oda Nobutada of Gifu also began to purge his home, so the old Ando Mamoru of the Nishimino pen head family was also exiled, on the grounds that when Takeda Shingen conquered the Oda family, he was responsible for defending the Higashimino Akiyama Torashi, but secretly communicated with the other party. Although these two things are well-founded, they are really not the right time to do them. Imagine that in the past six months, Nobunaga abolished the Kinai Legion, disposed of the main room and son-in-law of the Eastern Naval Regiment, and imprisoned the chief general of the Nankaido Army (himself) who returned victoriously, and now the father and son have exiled their respective old ministers...... In the eyes of the masses who don't know the truth, what kind of sign is this? What will the rest of the family think? It is estimated that many people will think that if it is decided today, Nobunaga is ready to unload the mill and kill the donkey!

If this trend continues, things are likely to be on the verge of an imminent outbreak soon, and everything is ready to go. If Nobunaga makes any more outrageous moves, it may become the straw that breaks the camel's back and triggers a great rebellion in the family.

But I know that Nobunaga's vision is not limited to the book, and the unification of the book is not his ultimate goal, so the speculation of unloading the mill and killing the donkey loses the premise in the first place. However, for me, this is the problem, and from my standpoint, I must not watch the Shinshiro march to invade Korea and thus go to war with the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, although I did not personally challenge Nobunaga, and even obeyed the righteousness and gave him advice many times, if the matter was on the verge of exploding, I would not try to redeem anything, and I had my own personal plan...... It's a very complex mind, with decades of knowing the grace of encounters, as well as a deep sense of homeland, as well as some fears about an uncertain future, and the ambition to be able to read and act.

Human feelings are probably so elusive, and they can change with time and circumstances. I don't think even the closest and most trustworthy Xiujing would have thought that I would have such a mind! His expectations for the Kira family are still at the level of the Hosokawa family, but it is inconvenient for me to find out to him, so as not to cause him great trouble. The only person who can really discuss this matter is Monk Amami, who is far away in Ise and has long had such expectations for me.

Perhaps because she saw that I was a little bored, Konatsu invited me to stay at Tosa Kira Castle for a few days, and by the way, I accompanied her to Chohoji Temple to pay respects.

"Alright then!" I thought about it for a moment and agreed to her request, "I remember two years ago, around this time, I accompanied you once, right?" …… It feels good. ”

"Well, so is the concubine," Xiao Xia smiled, "At that time, Changfang Temple had just been built!" ”

"It's thanks to Keitaro's kindness. And he can be so considerate, you should have no regrets! "Thinking of what happened and Zhou Jing's advice to me, I am still very emotional. He said that "if you don't want anything, you will be quiet, and if you don't want anything, you will be at ease", which is true, but unfortunately with the current situation and my current position, I simply can't do it.

"Keitaro is a good boy," Konatsu nodded, "But, if there are no regrets, then it's not...... At that time, I heard that Keitaro was going to build Changfang Temple, and the concubine thought that it would be great if His Royal Highness came forward! ”

This sentence made me a little embarrassed. At that time, I left her alone in Lotus Pond City.

"Well, I promise, if you want to build any more residences or temples, I will personally preside over it. How's that? I had no choice but to say.

"What kind of residence are you going to build? The concubine doesn't want to be thrown away again," Xiao Xia turned his eyes and glanced at me, "As for the temple, it's enough to have Changfang Temple!" The concubine body is used as a side room, and if she dies in the future, she must not be able to be buried in the Bodhi Temple of her family, so she can be buried here. ”

I looked at her with some displeasure: "Why did you talk about such a thing?" How old are you? ”

"The concubine is almost forty years old...... In the first two years, I lived alone in Lianchi City, and sometimes I felt lonely, and I couldn't help but think about some thoughts," Xiao Xia smiled apologetically, "Actually, it's not sudden!" The mother of the concubine did not even live past the age of twenty; And my grandmother, according to Katsukano-sama, also died before the age of forty...... Anyway, at that time, the concubine had already instructed Keitaro that no matter where His Royal Highness was buried in the future, he must establish a mounds in Changfang Temple to accompany the concubine. ”

"Okay, it's all cranky." I said it casually. In my mind, forty years old is in the prime of life, and it is too early to think about what is behind you. Moreover, if you look closely at her face, although there are some crow's feet, because of her long-term pampering, except for being plump, the change in her appearance is not big, and she doesn't look like the age at which she should consider this kind of thing.

"In the future, it's still long!" I cupped her face and rubbed it gently in the palm of my hand.

……，…… As it turned out, my opinion about Akizuki Tanemi was very accurate. After expelling my envoy, he strengthened his relationship with the Ryuzoji family, and then launched an attack on the Otomo family with the Chikugo Kuniren clan, who had recently taken refuge in the Ryuzoji family. The Otomo family was caught off guard and had to end the Chikuzen strategy and withdraw the main force to the Bungo defense, leaving only Takahashi Shaoyun's Iwaya Castle and Tachibana Mountain Castle in Tachibana Michiyuki to support the situation.

A large part of the reason why the Otomo family is so passive is the departure of the Kamaike family. This family is the pen of the fifteen families of Chikugo Kuni, and the partiality of the head of the Otomo family for generations is the pillar of the Otomo family's rule in Chikugo Province. When the Ryuzoji family had not yet raised its head, the Ryuzoji family was once forced by the Shaoyi family, and Ryuzoji Takashin was also exiled by the powerful ministers of the family, and these two critical junctures were supported and sheltered by the former head of the Puchi family, Puchi Jiansheng, so the family business survived. At the time, this was nothing, but could be used as a part of Otomo's Kitakyushu strategy. However, later on, the strong rise of the Ryuzoji family seriously hindered the Kitakyushu strategy of the Otomo family, and the original behavior of the Kamachi family was extremely inappropriate, so it received a certain amount of criticism in the Otomo family. As a result, in the Battle of Ogawa, Kamachi Kamori led a thousand troops to break through the Shimazu family's main camp and proved his loyalty at the cost of the entire army, but Kamachi Kamaki's sister-in-law, Kamachi Zhenren, led another 2,000 people to return to Chikugo Province ahead of schedule on the grounds of illness, and from then on, he slowly moved closer to Ryuzoji Takanobu, and finally joined the Ryuzoji family with the Shuzhi family and the rest of the wealthy families.

At this time, the Otomo family had to put down their bodies and ask me for support again. The envoys, still Yoshioka Kanko and Usuki-jina, arrived at Imabari Castle first, and when they learned that I had come to Tosa Province, they immediately asked Janet to come with them for help, and when they passed through Nakaiyo, they visited Hideki of Iyo Matsuyama Castle. Xiujing learned that the situation was urgent, and for Janet's sake, she also followed them to Kira Castle.

"Please ask His Royal Highness Jingo to lend a hand, then my Otomo family will be grateful!" Yoshioka was very sincere, "For the Higo country, the head of the family can no longer take care of it, so he can only ask His Royal Highness Jingo to take over the responsibility...... However, the place of the Bungo is the property that the family must protect, and I hope that His Royal Highness Jingo will repel the attack of the Akizuki family on his behalf; In addition, the traitors of Chikugo Province also asked His Highness Kingo to come forward to ask for a conquest, and afterwards the family was willing to divide the territories of Sanju-gun, Sanmon-gun, and Sanike-gun in the western part of Chikugo as a reward for the meritorious service of His Highness Kingo's family. ”

"Please stay first! I'll consider it about aiding the Otomo family," I replied ambiguously, "but because of the fact that the four wealthy clans were exhausted after half a year of fighting, I'm afraid they weren't so willing to go into battle; In addition, I must also take into account the opinion of His Royal Highness Oda Safu. After all, I'm only in charge of Southern Kyushu, and I'm the second to serve as the second of the Otomo family, so if I want to attack the Ryuzoji family and the Akizuki family in Northern Kyushu, I must first get the approval of the main family! ”

"His Royal Highness Kingo......" Usuki Zhenshang wanted to say something, but Yoshioka took over the topic. He preemptively owed me a debt and said respectfully, "Then the foreign minister will bother for a few days and wait for His Royal Highness Jinwu to make a decision." ”

"You're welcome." I nodded, and instructed the attendants to make arrangements for a few people.

Xiujing still stayed in the hall, and when Yoshioka and Usuki Zhenshang and the others went down, he asked strangely, "What does my brother think about this matter?" The Otomo family is so sincere, what else does the brother need to hesitate about? ”

"Do you think I should go out?" I asked rhetorically.

"Just leave it at stake!" Xiujing nodded, "What my brother said to Yoshioka is almost all a pretext...... Although the wealthy clans of the four countries fought for half a year, the overall losses were not serious, and there was no problem in going into battle; As for saying that we can't attack Kitakyushu, it's not so certain, aren't we currently preparing for war with the Ryuzoji family? ”

"Well, a little bit, but not exactly," I explained to him, "the lord once said that the Ouchi family's Shuho and Nagato provinces in Sanyo, as well as the former lords of Bunzen and Chikuzen in Kyushu, would be in charge of the raids. After that, the Akechi family will be deployed in Kitakyushu, and it is estimated that they will dominate the 480,000 koku territories of Bunzen and Chikuzen. ”

"And this thing?" Xiujing understood, "In this way, attacking the Qiuyue family, which occupies more than half of the territory of these two countries, really needs to obtain the approval of the main hall, and then transfer His Royal Highness Wise to participate in the raid." ”

"yes!" I nodded. This is the practice of the Oda family, when attacking a new territory, the retainers who are scheduled to be enthroned will serve as the main force, so that he can gather the wealthy families in the country in the raid, establish considerable prestige, and ensure that he can enter the feudal territory smoothly. My Tosa and Iyo, Shibata Katsuie's Echizen, Akechi Mitsuhide's Tanba, Hiroyoshi Hanara's Harima, Ikeda Tsunekoi's Half Settsu, Takigawa Kazui's Kaga Hankoku, Beeya Yoritaka's Akami, etc., were all arranged in this way.

To be precise, Nobunaga's arrangement for Akechi Mitsuhide was not limited to this. According to the plan he once revealed, before attacking Kitakyushu, he would first transfer Akechi Mitsuhide to Izumo and Iwami in the westernmost part of San'in, and attack the Ouchi family's old domains of Shubo and Nagato in Sanyo with Hanara, and then join me in attacking the Ouchi family's Bunzen and Chikuzen in Kyushu as the territories he wanted to transfer. However, if I were to confront the Akizuki family now, Nobunaga would probably transfer Akechi Mitsuhide in advance, skip the Zhou Defense and Nagato Raiders, and directly attack Bunzen and Chikuzen with me.

If things go the way they go, what will happen?

So far, I think the one who is most likely to have a mess is Akechi Mitsuhide. He has always had a great respect for righteousness and tradition, and his character and practices are very different from Nobunaga's, and there is a slight hint of disagreement between them. On several occasions before, he had already developed some dissatisfaction with Nobunaga, especially the treatment of the Hatano brothers, which not only made him lose his trust and reputation, but also ruined his mother's surname.

But, by now, is he ready? And should I make a decision to preempt the opportunity for a wise rebellion? You must know that in the original history, it was Yura Hideyoshi who asked for an order to fight a decisive battle with the Mori family, so that Nobunaga ordered the transfer of Akechi Mitsuhide to assist, so that he mistakenly thought that he wanted to deprive himself of his territory; So, in order to avoid falling into the fate of Sakuma Nobumori, he finally made up his mind to launch a mutiny.

But if Akechi Mitsuhide didn't make a good decision, it would be equivalent to burning the lead before the bomb was finished, and such a good opportunity was wasted. When he successfully transferred from Kinai, there would be no such convenient conditions to raid Nobunaga. Moreover, when the time comes, he understands Nobunaga's actual arrangement, and he is likely to discourage rebellion. After all, the total stone height of Chikuzen and Bunzen reached 480,000 koku, which was much higher than the 340,000 koku he had in Shiga Prefecture and Tanba Province. This reward is enough to dispel the resentment he has accumulated before, and make up for the loss of his departure from Jinai and the center.

The degree to which the situation is brewing, and the timing of the situation, is the key to the whole thing.

(To be continued)