……，…… In Urado Bay in Tosa, Konatsu and I landed with the abandoned ship of our close attendants, and were welcomed into the castle by Ikeyoriwa and Ikenobu Yori, father and son, who remained behind in Urado Castle. At the same time, the Fuba replenished some supplies and continued to sail towards Kitakyushu with Yoshikei.

After receiving the visit of the Chi family father and son, we immediately rushed to Kira Castle, which was not far away. Ikeyori asked me to rest for a while, but when I got here, I suddenly noticed that I was anxious to return to Kira Castle.

"Maybe you're right," I looked at Kira Peak not far away, and sighed to Konatsu with emotion, "For me, Kira Castle does have a different feeling...... In the future, when I am free, I will live here with you for a long time! ”

"Yes." Natsu smiled happily.

"You said, before you came, you asked Ah Wei to take care of Mingzi on your behalf?" I asked her again.

"Sister Ah Wei has always been there," Xiao Xia replied, "She said that because Lord Qinzhen and Xuanzhen had gone to Kyushu with Zhou Jing, she was also very lonely at home. ”

"Did she say that?" I groaned, thinking of the Hoshin-in Temple in Mie Castle. Perhaps, she will be lonely in Mie Castle too! After all, Nana has passed away...... "Then, I'll have someone take my mother back to Tosa, so that you and Ah Wei can be her companions." In addition, the situation is different now, and the Bodhi Temple of the Tosa Yoshira family should also be moved from Mie Castle. ”

"Your Highness forgot to explain the son," Xiao Xia reminded with a smile, "Actually, she is a very good daughter-in-law, surnamed Zi Heshun, and she is very suitable for accompanying her mother." The concubine used to be in Lotus Pond City, thanks to her care! ”

"Yes, yes!" I nodded.

When I think of Akiko, I think of the other two daughters who are against the party.

The first is Tamako Hosokawa, the daughter of Akechi Mitsuhide. I heard that after the incident, the Hosokawa family wanted to show their hearts. She was immediately imprisoned in the mountains of the Tango domain, and it was not until two years later, when Hideyoshi built Osaka Castle and built Hosokawa Yashiki under the castle for the Hosokawa family, that her husband Hosokawa Tadashi took her over.

Akiko's situation is very similar to her, but according to my thoughts, naturally I won't be so resolute. Moreover, with the current status of the family, there is no need to behave so compromisedly, and the posture before Xinjing can be said to be just right.

There is another one, Saito Fuku, the daughter of Saito Rizo, that is, the nurse of the third shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, Iemitsu. She is only one year old this year, and after Rizo was executed, she disappeared with her mother (Inaba Kazutetsu's daughter). Because she is a close relative, and because of the kindness of Honnoji Temple to Shinkyo, I once sent someone to visit her mother and daughter in the area of Tamba and Minami Omi, but I couldn't find them. Perhaps, she went to her mother's house! Although it is unlikely that Inaba Ichitetsu will openly take them in at this time, there must have been private funding, and I seem to remember that she was later adopted as an adopted daughter by Ichitetsu's eldest son, Inaba Shigetori, and married Inaba Masasari, who was born in the Tsushima fifteen family...... Thinking about this question, our group soon arrived at the gate of Kira Castle. The one who took care of Akiko was the eldest son of Tsunouchi Riding, who was also the nephew of Ikoma's parents, and he welcomed us in, and then reported to me in a low voice: "The main hall, the lotus pond hall is all right...... It is said to be under house arrest, but in fact it does not restrict any movement. ”

I nodded. It's a kid with eyes.

Sure enough, he turned into the corridor leading to the main hall, and Mingzi was already waiting there accompanied by Ah Wei. She knelt down and saluted me and Xiao Xia, "Mingzi to meet my father and mother." ”

"Get up! You're pregnant, so don't be polite," I motioned for Wei to help her up, "Are you okay lately?" ”

"Yes, thanks to the enlightenment and care of my mother and aunt." Akiko bowed her head and said.

"I know, I've wronged you this time," I sighed slightly, "from tomorrow onwards, the city's watchmen will be removed!" ”

"Actually, it's nothing," Akiko shook her head sensibly, "It's said that it's house arrest, but it's actually nothing, and Tsubachi-sama didn't restrict my movements." ”

"But the mentality is always different!" I insisted on my decision, "Since you call me 'Father-sama', it is naturally from my Kira family, and I should not be implicated too much." After that, I was completely comfortable recuperating here, waiting for the birth of my child...... This is the first member of the third generation of our Kira family! ”

"Yes," Akiko glanced at me timidly, "May I ask my father, about His Royal Highness Ashikaga in Kyoto......"

I know that she is asking about her biological father, Ashikaga Yoshishu-after all, it is flesh and blood, and she can't let it go.

"His Royal Highness Yi Zhou went with his wife and was buried in Fudo Mountain in Luyuan Temple. In a little while, I will allow you to come and worship and build a tower to worship him. ”

As I spoke, I took out Yoshishu's death song and handed it to Akiko. Akiko took it and looked at it carefully, and tears welled up all at once.

"Xuanjing......" Ah Wei helped Mingzi and glanced at me, which means that Mingzi is not suitable for being too sad and excited now. I nodded knowingly, and moved on to another topic: "Mingzi, I'm about to go out to Kyushu, do you have any words or letters that you want me to bring to Zhou Jing?" I think he will be very happy to receive your message. ”

"Yes. I'll write it right away. Hearing me mention Zhou Jing, Mingzi hurriedly agreed, and then wiped the corners of his eyes with a silk handkerchief, and a tearful smile appeared on his face.

……，…… Before I left Kyoto, the forces of Maeda Toshiie's army and the triple armament of Miyata and Joto had left Kyoto on my orders and arrived at Iyo Kuniyu and Shimajo via the Seto Inland Sea. These more than 5,500 people are all the forces around me now, and most of the rest of the army is fighting in Kyushu, and a small part remains in Kwanai.

However, I have nothing to worry about, with the power of defeating the Ryuzoji family, I believe that as long as I arrive in Kyushu, it will not be a problem to gather 50,000 or 60,000 people to attack the Akizuki family, except for the 10,000 people in Higo Province, the 8,000 people to whom Hosokawa Shinyuki belongs, and the more than 10,000 wealthy clans in Chikugo Province, the Gamo family of Osumi Province can send 7,000 troops, and the 6,000 people of the beehouse Yoryu of Xiangguo should also follow me; In addition, the territory of the Satsuma Shimazu family is close to 300,000 koku, and I am ready to force them to send 10,000 troops to help; As for the Otomo family of Bungo, they have almost accepted the druids so far, and they are the target of my support this time, and if they come out, 10,000 people can always get together.

According to this plan of troops, after I crossed the sea and arrived in Kyushu, I ordered my attendants to send orders to each country separately.

In addition, I did not directly enter the territory of the Bee House family, but temporarily stationed in my own Mimitsu Castle. I'm sure that when Beeya Yorlong got the news, he would have come and urged me to enter Iwaoka Castle. Although he was the prison sent to me by Nobunaga, he always got along well with me, and was able to enter the kingdom of Yuxiang thanks to my strong support. Moreover, now that Oda Nobunaga, who promoted him, has returned to heaven, he is alone in Kyushu, surrounded by my forces, and the two largest families in the territory, Yonehara and Ito, are all devoted to me, and even his residence is built by me...... In this case, what reason did he have to remain loyal to the Oda family? After that, even if you don't formally surrender, at least you will continue to serve under my command.

The envoy sent to Iwaoka Castle was none other than the close servant Tsuyoshi Nai Jingding, whom I had hired at Kira Castle not long ago. He completed the task well, and soon returned with the beehouse Lailong. When the bee house saw me, his expression was a little complicated, and he still greeted me as a subordinate as usual.

It still seems to be a bit of a knot. I thought to myself. However, for the sake of him being so fast, I wasn't ready to care, so I nodded to him with a smile: "It's hard." During this period of time, thanks to you and the Gamo family for stabilizing Minami Kyushu, I was able to calmly rush back to Kinai to crusade against the rebels and avenge the murdered Taisei Gazette. ”

"This is a matter of the next part," he sighed, "but I didn't be able to participate in the action myself, and I feel sorry for the cultivation of the lord." ”

"Taizheng Gong's heroic spirit is not far away, and I will definitely feel your heart." I said casually.

"So, what are the recent arrangements for the family's major policies?" He continued to ask me, "Because the distance is too far, it is difficult to get timely news in Xia, but His Highness Xuanjing can definitely do it, right?" ”

"Speaking of the recent arrangement, there is," I nodded, "because the position of the head of the family is still undecided, so several important ministers in the family have decided to maintain the original situation for the time being. In other words, the Kira family continued to pacify Kyushu, His Royal Highness Hideyoshi continued to attack the Mori family, Shibata in Hokuriku Province, and His Royal Highness Ieyasu in Tokaido continued to attack Uesugi and Takeda, while His Royal Highness Nagahide was still in charge of the center. However, His Royal Highness Nobutaka and Hori Hidemasa also participated, serving as the assistant politician and the Kyoto secretary respectively. ”

Speaking of which, I think the people who followed me were lucky. Historically, Kawajiri Hidetaka, Mori Nagake and others followed Takigawa Kazuki into Takeda's old domain, and when Nobunaga returned to heaven, he was immediately driven out of the territory and fled back in disgrace, and Kawajiri Hidetaka even lost his surname.

"Yes," Bee House Yoryon was silent for a moment and bowed to me, "Then please ask His Highness Xuanjing to move to Iwaoka Castle, and then gather the army according to the order." ”

"Then please." I nodded.

Two days later, Osumi Province also responded. Pusheng Xuanxiu received the order, and without saying a word, he led more than 7,000 people to rush over. I was amazed at how swift and crisp he was.

"In just two days, the entire army was assembled. Your speed is really unbelievable! I exclaimed.

"Actually, it's very simple," Nobuhide Gamo laughed, "because the neighboring Shimazu family is not very peaceful, and it borders the main family in many places, so just in case, since the end of last year, the military situation in the country has not been disbanded, and it has also thwarted several secret tricks." ”

"So what's going on now?" I continued, "You pulled out all your forces, what did the Shimazu family do?" ”

"Your Highness is down, Higo, Osumi and Yue Xiang have the backbone of the Three Kingdoms, what else can they do?" Gamo Nobuhide replied indifferently, "In the Shimazu family, after all, there are still many people who know how to judge the situation. ”

"You're right." I nodded in agreement. As far as I know, the eldest of the four Shimazu brothers is three years old, and he is known for being good at judging the situation. Historically, Hideyoshi entered Kyushu in a big way, and the first person to propose submission was Suiku. It's a pity that his proposal was not supported by his family, and as a result, he fought a war with Hideyoshi, and was not only forced to retreat to Satsuma and Osumi, but also lost his surname.

However, just as the Shimazu family did not easily surrender to Hideyoshi in history, they naturally do not surrender to me easily today. Although I have turned around in front of Nobunaga for them and reused Shimazu Iehisa, I have formed a few good relationships, but things will definitely take a little bit of work.

I'm sure that even if the Shimazu family were willing to help, the head of the family, Shimazu Yoshihisa, would not come in person.

And then that's exactly what happened. I waited for 10 days at Iwaoka Castle, during which time all the Higo, Bungo, and Chikugo [***] of Nakyushu were all in place, and the Shimazu family came belatedly. They only brought 5,000 troops, and the leader was neither Iehihisa nor Yoshihisa's younger brother Yoshihiro, but Yoshihisa's cousin Shimazu Tokihisa.

"What rudeness!" Ito, who was not on good terms with the Shimazu family, immediately said to me, "Taitsune, the Shimazu family must be punished for neglecting military orders for this!" ”

"Regarding this matter, please forgive His Highness Taitsune," Shimazu bowed slightly, "Because it will be spring sowing soon, it will be difficult to gather the army......"

"That's what you're for, isn't it?" Gamo Nobuhide saw the Shimazu family's intentions at a glance, "I deliberately delayed like this, I wanted to delay the army's departure as much as possible and reduce the time our side spent attacking the Akizuki family...... Do you think that this will prevent Taichang Gong from unifying Kyushu? ”

"Ah, speaking of this, there is something unclear below," Shimazu quickly changed the subject, "Ming Guo has a saying, if the name is not right, it is not good. So I would like to ask below, is this crusade against the Akizuki family in the name of Oda Taimasa, or in the name of His Royal Highness Kira Taitsune? What is the relationship between the Oda family and the Kira family today? ”

As soon as these words came out, the hall immediately fell silent, especially the beehouse Lai Long, who was the landlord, and his face immediately changed.

"Bold! How to act too often, how can you be a retainer of the Shimazu family who can put a beak! Otomo yelled loudly, ostensibly to defend my authority, but in fact it was very unspeakable. Obviously, I forcibly stuffed an adopted son and deprived my son-in-law of inheritance, and he was very dissatisfied in his heart.

At this point, I had to make it official. So I waved my hand to stop Otomo Yoshitomi's words.

"Actually, I don't care about the 10,000 people in the Shimazu family. Without the help of the Shimazu family, I was able to capture the Akizuki family. However, the Akitsuki family disregarded morality and was capricious, and wantonly invaded the neighboring daimyo and wealthy clans, which really disturbed the abyss of Kyushu! I was ordered by the imperial court to raise a dignified army to conquer, which is an act of righteousness. In this case, leaving the Shimazu family alone will not end your way to serve the imperial court? Or is your Shimazu family willing to cut themselves off from Kyushu? Self-isolation from the imperial court? ”

"Don't dare!" Shimazu replied quickly.

Although everyone usually doesn't care much about the court, the name of the court is real, and once it is used to buckle the hat, the power is not ordinary.

(To be continued)