In the Tsutsui Castle of Yamato Province, people come and go, bustling and bustling, the merchants of the castle town shuttle, the shops are lined up, and they are still prosperous as yesterday, but the flag of the castle has changed, the plum bowl pattern flag of the Tsutsui family is gone, and the papaya pattern flag of the Oda family is waving in the wind, and the hunting sounds.

Oda Nobunaga sat in the assessment room of the castle tower, his joy was overflowing, the army was so smooth that he took Tsutsui Castle in three days, and the surrounding sub-castles and small castles were also looking forward to the wind, and the Yamato land of 450,000 stone was about to be completely in his hands, and there was no longer any need to use the means of alliance to win over "the people who were sleeping by the bedside".

Yamato belongs to the five provinces of Kinai, a veritable central place in ancient Japan, with the Kii Mountains and the Ikoma Mountains as barriers to each other, and the fertile Nara Basin, which can be cultivated in large areas. This country is not only close to Kyoto, but also the ancient city of Nara, the legacy of the Tang Dynasty inherited by Asuka, whether in terms of the practical significance of military and political affairs, or cultural symbolism, it is a place that cannot be ignored by anyone with ambition to dominate.

And what surprised Oda Nobunaga so much was not the Tsutsui Castle where he sat down, but the Katsutakeshi Sakujima, one of the "left and right" of the Tsutsui family, who was very brave, Takeda Shingen, who had been out of Kai Province, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, who had fought in a battle, fled in embarrassment, and his reputation had long spread all over the place.

Oda Nobunaga, who loves talents, has long wanted to invite him to his command, but because of the affection of his allies, he has not been able to open his mouth to Tsutsui Shunkei, and he doesn't want to be a blessing in disguise this time, eradicate Tsutsui Shunkei, seize the Yamato country, and also win the love general, how can he not be excited?

In other words, Shima Katsu was able to return to obedience, and the first credit should be credited to Niwa Nagahide.

As the front, Niwa Nagahide led the men and horses of this formation, took the lead to drive to Tsutsui Castle, did not dare to delay, and immediately sent his fierce general Ueda Shigean to fight against the enemy.

The first stop of the Oda army was victorious, and suddenly the momentum was loud, Ueda Shigean felt that this victory was too easy, and continued to call the battle under the city, and asked Shima Katsu to come out to fight to the death, but the city was locked with a high drawbridge, and there was no sound, and no longer saw a person riding out.

Seeing that no matter how much he scolded, no one on the other side came out, and all the generals suggested that the city should be attacked immediately, and the so-called soldiers were very fast, and before the arrival of Oda Nobunaga's Chinese army, it was a great achievement to take Tsutsui Castle in one fell swoop.

However, Niwa Nagahide tried his best to disagree with the public, and ordered the army to retreat ten miles back and camp, feast on the war meal, and fight again tomorrow, all the generals were puzzled, but the military order had been issued, and they did not dare to disobey it, so they had to reluctantly turn their horses and retreat.

It turned out that Niwa Nagahide saw that the enemy's main general, Shima Katsutoshi, was unusual, and did not go out to meet the enemy, so he had other plans in his heart. That night, he wrote a letter and sent a messenger to the general who defended the city, Dao Shengmeng, and asked him to meet in the bamboo forest outside Tsutsui City tomorrow, and said that they would only bring their entourage and not soldiers.

On the second day, Shima Katsu went to the appointment, and although the two were never masked, they had already admired each other. Niwa Nagahide's Confucian style left a deep impression on Shima Katsuto, and Shima Katsutoshi's boldness also amazed Niwa Nagahide.

The two of them listened to the wind in the bamboo forest and talked about the wine. Niwa Nagahide made it clear that the pressure of the Oda army this time was caused by Tsutsui Shunkei seeking to assassinate Oda Nobunaga in order to vent his personal anger, and now the army is coming to the city, but he did not immediately attack the city, just he does not want to hurt the innocent, as long as Tsutsui Castle opens the city gate, he guarantees that Autumn will not commit any crimes, and will persuade the lord to keep the Tsutsui line.

Shima Katsutakeshi deeply admired Niwa Nagahide's frankness, and was very dissatisfied with Tsutsui Shunkei's unwarranted personal vendetta in revenge, regardless of the consequences, and went to assassinate Oda Nobunaga, and even refused the lord's order to go with him.

But he didn't show it in his expression, and he didn't give an immediate answer, but asked about the current trend of the day, in order to test the other party's true talents.

Niwa Nagahide smiled slightly when he heard this, and asked rhetorically: "Which one does the general think is the strongest among the current daimyo and the one who is most likely to end this troubled world?" ”

Shimakatsu Takeshi did not shirk, and replied truthfully: "It is not your father-in-law, Oda Nobunaga." ”

Niwa Nagahide shook his head and said, "No, there are really three people who can put an end to today's troubled times, they are Takeda Shingen, the tiger of Kai, Kenshin Uesugi of Echigo, and finally my lord Oda Nobunaga." ”

"But this dragon and a tiger have died of illness one after another." Shima Katsu was stunned, not understanding what the other party meant.

Niwa Nagahide laughed and said, "What the general said is very true, this dragon and a tiger have returned to heaven on the road to Shangluo a few years ago, what does this mean?" It shows that God finally chose my lord, and Amaterasu has handed over the responsibility of ending the troubled times to the Oda family, which is the general trend. ”

Seeing that Dao Shengmeng did not answer, he continued: "The general trend of the world, the vast soup, those who go along with it prosper, and those who go against it die. ”

Shima Shengmeng was very calm and still didn't say a word.

Niwa Nagahide smiled slightly, picked up the sake in front of him, drank it all and said: "At the moment, Nagahide is worried about something, and wants to talk about General Yu, but I wonder if the general is willing to listen?" ”

Shimakatsu replied briskly, "Lord Nagahide, please speak." ”

"Alas......" Niwa Nagahide sighed lightly and said: "Now, my lord is on a campaign from all sides, and the first fierce general, Shibata Katsuie, led an army of 20,000 and drove into the Hokuriku region, invincible, and has the potential to drive Uesugi Keikatsu back to the Echigo domain; Commanding an army of 30,000 in the west of Hashiba Hideyoshi, he had already captured the four feudal kingdoms of Harima, Inaba, Tajima, and Misaku in Kansai, and was to engage the Mori family in the Chinese region. The wise Mitsuhide of the region had already swept away the opposition forces in the domain, captured the Tamba domain, and became a veritable 'Governor'; General Takigawa Kazuki also sent troops to Kanto together with the young lord Nobutada, and the Kai Takeda family and the Sagami Hojo family were powerless to fight back; As for Sakuma, who besieged Ishiyama Honganji, it flourished, and it was only in the middle of nowhere. ”

"Everyone is a Oda minister, they are going to conquer the east and the west, conquering the city, and when the world is unified in the future, when the marquis pays homage to the prime minister, won't they all be above me. But looking at the heroes of the world, the Satake family of Hitachi and Date Masamune of Mutsu are beyond the reach of the whip, and my Niwa Nagahide wants to make meritorious deeds, but there is no way out, so I can only accompany the lord and live in peace, and I will be unknown from then on. ”

When Shima Katsu heard this, he was worried that the credit would be snatched away by others, and said with a smile: "Although I am stupid and will only use brute force on the battlefield, in my opinion, not all the work of sweeping the world has been taken up by others." ”

"I want to hear about it." Niwa Nagahide showed a look of humility seeking advice.

"Looking at the Japanese archipelago, Honshu Island is in the middle, is the foundation of the prosperity of the country, Hokkaido Ezo country has not respected the royal road, belongs to the outside of the country, the westernmost Kyushu is too far apart, and there is a Maori family barrier, these two islands are not the land of soldiers, but Shikoku Island is across the sea from the Kii domain, Nagamune and my distant relatives Fen Yu Lie in the previous life, about to unify the whole island, its momentum is so prosperous, it will definitely attract the attention of His Royal Highness Nobunaga, Lord Nagahide can ask Nobunaga for an order, lead his troops to cross the sea, expedition to Shikoku, this pacification of the world's credit, not stable fall into the adult's pocket."

When Niwa Nagahide heard this, his face immediately turned overjoyed, and he said: "Listening to the general's words, this work of pacifying the world will definitely fall on the head of the Oda family?" ”

Shimakatsu sighed fiercely: "The Oda army attacked from all sides at the same time, but it was victorious, no one could take it, this troubled era lasted for nearly two hundred years, how many ordinary people's lives were ruined, how many cities and temples were reduced to rubble, and it was time to end." ”

Seeing that the time was ripe, Niwa Nagahide immediately bowed to the ground and said sincerely: "Nagahide has the courage to beg the general to make a contribution to end this troubled world, and in the future, Nagahide will definitely ask the lord for an order, and the commander will conquer Shikoku Island, and then ask the general to help him share this immortal achievement." ”

When Shima Katsu heard it, it turned out that the other party was pretending to be confused, and everything he said was for himself, so he didn't feel convinced, and laughed.

Two years later, Niwa Nagahide really got Oda Nobunaga's general, assisted the third young lord Oda Nobuhide on the expedition to Shikoku Island, and kept his promise to bring Shima Katsutoshi, but due to an unexpected incident, the expeditionary army had to return halfway.

When he learned that Niwa Nagahide persuaded the enemy to surrender with only three inches of incorruptible tongue, how could Oda Nobunaga be unhappy? Not only was he complacent about having Niwa Nagahide, a wise general, but he was also excited to get a fierce general.

No wonder Oda Nobunaga was so happy, the benefits of Shimakatsu Takeshi's attachment to the Oda family can be described as a vertical manifestation, he relied on his bravery and prestige, rode alone to the Ten Cities Castle, knocked on the city gate, and persuaded the lord of the castle Yagyu to surrender without much effort, not to mention other small towns, within two days, Oda Nobunaga pacified the Yamato land under the rule of Tsutsui Shunkei.

At Niwa Nagahide's request, Oda Nobunaga gave up the idea of cutting the grass and eradicating the roots, and kept the Tsutsui affair, so that Tsutsui Shunhiro and Tsutsui Dingkei were finally able to save their lives.

While Oda Nobunaga gave many awards, he also thought that his prestige was far and wide, and he was already recognized by the world.

I was just when he was proud, he found out that Tsutsui Shunkei actually colluded with Ishiyama Honganji, and after the assassination of him was successful, he planned to announce it to the world, and in the name of the Buddha country, he called on the world's heroes to fight against him.

Oda Nobunaga was furious and wanted to withdraw the order to keep the Tsutsui clan, but before he could pass on the order, the good news came that Sakuma's prosperous army had captured Ishiyama Honganji, and the family governor was killed in battle, and his father was surrendered as a monk.

The destruction of Ishiyama Honganji Temple is far greater than the capture of Yamato Province, because it took Oda Nobunaga ten years to defeat reinforcements from all walks of life after many repetitions, and lost several of his generals and tens of thousands of soldiers before he removed this stronghold, and eradicated the power of the Buddhist temple in Japan, which is the work of Ze by later generations.

Oda Nobunaga did not stop doing anything, and imitated the burning of Enryakuji Temple, and ordered Sakuma to set fire to Ishiyama Honganji Temple, which burned for three days and three nights, and a magnificent temple was reduced to ashes. Oda Nobunaga's fate as an "enemy of the Buddha" is well deserved.

Then, the high-spirited Oda Nobunaga was once again taken by surprise, and when everyone thought that he was going to return to Azuchi Castle, he ordered the army to march straight to Kyoto, and sent messengers to inform the various legions that they must return to Kyoto before the end of the year to return to him.

Autumn is coming to winter, the eighth year of Tianzheng has come to an end, how will this Warring States Fengyun start his new journey?