The death of the island relatives is completely the fault of the Kaibe family. Moreover, judging from the fact that they dared to attack high-ranking samurai with dozens of retinues, the Kaibe family had never done such a thing...... Suddenly, I thought of the other identity of the Haibu family, the maritime merchant and the Kou, and the Haibe knives they produced were exported to the outside world in large quantities, and they were extremely famous among the Haikou of the Three Kingdoms of China and Korea.

A wave of disgust rose from my heart.

"In other words, the matter of intercepting and killing the brother of the Yuan Qin is indeed the work of the Haibu family?" I said slowly.

"About this matter......" Hearing my tone, Umibe Tomitsu felt that something was wrong, and he quickly bowed down, "Regarding this matter, I have expressed my willingness to give an explanation, but the head of my department of Changzong refused to withdraw from the army. It can be seen that the intention of the Yuan relatives is not to take revenge, but to seize the territory, please ask the two Mingjian for this! ”

"That's true," Hosokawa nodded in agreement. Judging by what he meant, it seems that he is very willing to open his eyes for the Umibe family - after all, after Umibe Tomomitsu surrendered, it was under his match.

That's not going to work. Not to mention my personal feelings towards Umibe Tomomitsu, in terms of strong relations, it is not suitable for me to send troops to the mountains in the south to fight for the interests of the Umibe family and the head of the Nagamune family.

In the current situation, I should focus on Sanuki and Tosa.

In Sanki China, as soon as the three people of Sanhao who represent the Miyoshi clan died, Shihe Preservation lost his reputation as the ruler of Sanki Province for the Miyoshi clan, and became an ordinary local wealthy family, just taking this opportunity to defeat him. In the past two days, the Kasai family in the central part and the Kankawa family in the east have sent envoys to express their submission to me, and the head of the Nara family in the west is still in my hands, and if I try my best, I may be able to pacify the entire Sanki country, and I will also be sincerely supported by the wealthy clans. This was much faster than my previous plan, and it can only be said that the plan could not keep up with the change: who would have thought that the trio and their forces would completely die out so soon?

As for Tosa Province, not to mention, the two counties that I got last year are already in jeopardy, and I will never sit idly by. If it weren't for the fact that I wanted to stay at Katsurui Castle to intimidate Awa and Sanki, and I didn't know the details of what happened to Tosa, I would have already sent reinforcements to Tosa.

In order to dispel Hosokawa Shinyuki's intention to refuse the Umibe family's request for help, I decided to make up a reason.

"So, when I went on an expedition to Tosa last year, was it the Umibe family who intercepted and killed the military envoy I sent to His Highness Danmasa?" I asked Tomamitsu Umibe coldly.

My words made Umibe Tomomitsu's face change drastically.

"There is absolutely no such thing!" He hurriedly denied it.

"Can you guarantee it?" I stared at him closely, "From Tosa to Osaka Bay, which I control, I only passed through the coastal strip of Kaibe County along the way...... Can you guarantee that it must have nothing to do with it? ”

Forced by my gaze, Umibe Tomitsu was unsure. Many people in Awa and Sanki know that I don't say anything...... He hurriedly fell to the ground: "Maybe it's the people under him who are acting privately...... I check it out in detail under the next by all means! I promise to give Awajiden an explanation! ”

Shinyuki Hosokawa sighed softly. Listening to the tone of Umibe Yumitsu, it is impossible to deny this matter. In that case, he would not be able to offer support to the Kaibe family. What a serious offense to intercept and kill the military envoy! If an important military plane is delayed, it is enough to affect the outcome of a battle!

"Then, the matter of support and surrender will wait for you to recapture Haibe County and find out about this matter!" I waved my hand and repelled Umibe Tomomitsu.

Back at Ninomaru's residence, Hattori Masari had already rushed back from Tosa.

"How's it going, have you figured things out?" I asked him.

"Yes, it's roughly clear," Hattori Masasari bowed his head, "Your Majesty asked Lord Hayama, according to him, the reason why His Royal Highness Kinzhen went out with him was to avenge his brother, and second, he planned to help the lord contain Minami Awa; In addition, the Chi family was reluctant to go out with him, but His Royal Highness Qinzhen considered the navy of the Haibe family, so he sent Lord Hayama to Hasuchi Castle to persuade His Royal Highness Yoriwa. ”

"It's not entirely out of private interest," I nodded, "and what's going on with the family?" ”

"The matter of the family, the subordinate was ordered by the lord to go and inquire about Lord Doi Soshan. I didn't expect that Doi-sama had already been executed......"

"Executed? What's going on! "I couldn't help but be taken aback.

According to history, there are cases where Doi Soyama died at the hands of a certain family, which is also the reason why the family fell apart. But that was when a family was beaten to the doorstep of the house by the family of Changzong and my department, and it was almost destroyed. Now that a family is not threatened, why is a good person suspicious?

Moreover, it was actually a punishment rather than a seppuku. If you seppuku, you can still keep the honor and territory of the samurai, but if it is executed, then the family's domain will be confiscated. Such a punishment is too severe for the pen head of the auxiliary government.

"His Majesty inquired carefully in Nakamura Town, and it seems that the main family of the Yuan family sent someone to report Ichijo Kane, saying that the Chosō family and the Kira family had reached a secret agreement to divide the Tosa Province, and the Chosō family would control the four eastern prefectures and expand their territory to the Awa country; The three western prefectures returned to the Kira family, and after destroying the Ichijo family, they attacked Iyo Province. And the one who took the lead was Doi Sozan, who represented the Ichijo family and reached a rapprochement with the two families, and afterwards he would take control of the Hata-gun of the Ichijo family, and the subordinates would belong to the Kira family. Hattori Masanari reported.

"And then I believe it?" I couldn't help but shake my head.

It's stupid to have one of them. Although the main room of the Yuan relatives is his own sister, she is now a member of the Changzong family, how can she trust her again? If she is a fool, then needless to say, it is easy to be deceived by Yuan Qin to release fake news; If she is a smart person, between her brother and her husband and son, she will definitely help her husband and son. After all, if she chooses to help her brother, she will only be disgusted by her relatives, and once she is sent back to a family, she will only have the share of becoming a monk; And if she helps the Changzong family and makes contributions to the family, her position will be more stable, and her son must be the next generation of the head of the Changzong family.

"Yes, seeing Kira and Chi Yori and the two highnesses entourage Motobe attacking Kaibe County, Ichijo Kaneda seems to have completely believed the rumors...... At the beginning, Ichijo Kaneda just ordered Lord Doi to think about it behind closed doors, and sent another person to attack his family's Takaoka County; When he roughly controlled the whole county, he ordered Toi-sama to come forward to appease the wealthy clans in the county and persuade the Tsuno and Satake families to surrender. However, not only did he not accept his orders, but he persuaded Ichijo Kaneji to withdraw from Takaoka Prefecture immediately and sent someone to sue for peace with the lord. Ichijo Kaneda was completely furious and immediately ordered the execution of Doi-sama. ”

"So, the situation in Tosa has stabilized?"

"Exactly," Hattori replied respectfully, "Lord Doi has a high prestige in the Ichijo family, and now he has been executed by the head of the family, and many retainers and wealthy families in the family are very dissatisfied, so the offensive of the Ichijo family has stopped, and the three highnesses Satake Yoshinao, Tsuno Takatsu, and Ikekinyori have stopped the Niyodo River. ”

“…… What a pity, Tsuchii-sama! I let out a long sigh. Although the death of Doi Sozan caused internal friction in the family, I feel very sorry. He is a very loyal person, and he has some knowledge, so he can understand that this is a rumor from the Yuan family, and he also knows that once I get the name and free my hands, it is not difficult to destroy a family. However, he was too loyal and lacked some flexibility. He didn't understand that such a blunt admonition would only confirm his suspicion of being a member of the Kira family, which would make Ichijo Kanji even more angry, and thus lead to death.

In addition, I am now completely clear about the plans of the head relatives of the Chozong and my department. Mobilizing Kira and Chiyori and Mukaibe to go into battle, in addition to taking revenge on the Umibe family and taking the opportunity to seize Umibe County, there are two other purposes against me. The first is to mislead Ichijo Kanada and let him break the alliance with me, and the other is to draw out the troops of Wuchuan and Gaogang counties to facilitate Ichijo Kanada to carry out the attack. Then, when the Ichijo family completely occupies my territory, he will take advantage of the fact that I am being dragged by the Miyoshi family to go out and drive out the Ichijo family, so that he can reasonably occupy Ogawa and Takaoka without breaking the peace agreement with me.

However, he probably couldn't have imagined that a sword would destroy the Great Wall by itself, directly kill Tuju Zongshan, and cause internal friction in the family, right? He couldn't have imagined that I would kill the three of Miyoshi so quickly and thoroughly, right?

Now that the situation in Tosa Province has stabilized for the time being, I can calmly arrange it.

The next time, Kazukawa Mayuki accepted the petition from the wealthy families of Katsuura and Naga, and I instructed Hidekei to take the Awaji people back to rest, leaving Yoshiyuki Sawaki and Mie Bei and Awaji Bei, who were more wounded, to garrison Katsurui Castle, and lead the remaining two Bei and the naval army to Utatsu Port in Higashisangi.

Before leaving, Mitsunari Futami ordered his men to go to Yangkikan and retrieve Nara Motomasa, who was being held there.

As soon as Nara Motomasa saw me, he knelt directly on the deck: "It's great to be able to see Awajiden!" I have made many requests to the people of Yangyikan, but I have never had the opportunity to meet them. ”

"Is that so?" I asked Mitsunari Futami.

"Before, the lord was busy with the decisive battle with the Miyoshi family, and his subordinates didn't dare to disturb him with such a trivial matter." Mitsunari replied respectfully.

I nodded, agreeing with him. It's okay to hang Nara Motomasa for a while, so that he can think about it carefully. The last time I gave him such good conditions, he still refused to take a stand, so I had to send a naval army to attack the port of Utatsu, so that some forces were scattered. Otherwise, he may be able to capture the Yutakiyama Castle of the Anfu family.

"As for what happened last time, I already know that I was wrong...... "Nara Motomasa bowed his head deeply and kowtowed on the deck, "I beg Awaji Hall to give the family another chance!" ”

His tone was very respectful, with a lot of sadness in it, which made me feel a little sympathetic. Speaking of which, he really didn't mean to be an enemy with us at the beginning, so he was caught off guard by Mitsuri Fuji, which can be said to be very wronged.

"Please go down and rest first! If there is anything else to ask for, please try to cooperate. I said gently.

"Yes. Thank you for your generosity! Nara Motomasa kowtowed again, and then followed the attendant into the cabin.

"What do you think?" I asked about Toshiya Maeda, Masakatsu Wasuka, Ikoma's parents, and others.

"Since His Royal Highness Xuanjing has said it, then it doesn't hurt to give him a chance." Ikoma's parents said.

"I think it depends on the attitude of the Kagawa family. If the Kagawa family submits, the Nara family's attitude won't make much sense. Wasuka Masakatsu said.

I nodded, and that's exactly what I thought. In other words, Nara Motomasa is just a standby, and I will support the Nara family to fight against him only if Kagawa no Kei resists stubbornly.

"The lord ......" saw the light and stopped.

"Say whatever you want." I smiled and encouraged him.

"Then Your Majesty has spoken," Futami Mitsunari bowed respectfully, looked up at me and asked, "Dare to ask the lord if he wants to obtain the port of Utatsu and the nearby territories?" ”

"Of course." I replied. The entire Oda family knew that I had a special love for the port.

"In this case, His Majesty suggested that the Nara family be completely abandoned, and only Nara Motomasa should be used as a condition for blackmailing the Kagawa family, as well as a reward for the Kagawa family after surrendering." Mitsunari Futami suggested.

I looked at him seriously. According to his suggestion, the Nara family has only one way to be completely destroyed, and Nara Motomasa is afraid that he will not survive...... At the beginning, Nara's Motomasa didn't say it, but now he has to cut off his life, this guy is really dark!

It is estimated that Maeda Toshiie and Wasuka Masakatsu also think so. Both of them, like me, looked at Mitsunari Futami.

"Go on! Why? I asked.

"Yes...... His Majesty believed that the port of Utatsu was originally the domain of the Nara family, but now that it had been taken over by the family, Nara Motomasa would definitely be dissatisfied. Moreover, the Naka County of the Nara family has been captured by the Kagawa family, and we have to open our eyes for him, and we will inevitably offend the Kagawa family; Instead of keeping two disgruntled wealthy families, it is better to abolish one now. Mitsunari Futami explained.

"You have a point," I nodded slightly. This guy is a person who leaves no room for error, and his talent is indeed outstanding: "However, if you hand over Nara Motomasa to the Kagawa family, forget about it!" ”

……，…… When he came to Utatsu Port, Nara's son Katsumasa Nara was the first to come to meet him. This month, the Nara family suffered a very heavy blow, and the old Shinme and Yamawaki families of the family threw themselves into Kagawa, and the acting official of Naka Prefecture, Kanakura Hidetada, was killed by the Kagawa family, and most of the leaders were lost. The Nara family appealed to the guardian of the Tokawa family, but the Tokawa family was in particular in need of the Kagawa family's support because of the imminent Battle of Katsurui, so they admitted the Kagawa family's occupation of Naka, much to the disappointment of the Nara family.

Seeing me coming with my army this time, Katsumasa Nara knew that it was time to shuffle. He immediately surrendered and begged me to release his father and do justice for the Nara family. Unfortunately, I have already made up my mind, and I can't agree to his request either. I didn't even see him, but I just asked Mitsunari Futami to come forward and reprimand his family for their previous indolence and assault. In addition, I sent an envoy to Kagawa no Kei, and asked him to surrender to us on the condition that he would admit it.

(To be continued)