Then it was rumored that Rokkaku Yoshiken coveted the two counties of the Kira family, coercing and inducing the shogunate to make a decision that was not favorable to the Kira family, and this time the Rokkaku family tried to use the shogunate's hand to punish the Kira family, and in order to achieve the ultimate goal of trying to seize the two counties, and these two counties were rewarded by His Royal Highness the Shogunate after the Kira family made great contributions to the shogunate.

There are a lot of related rumors, anyway, after all, the hexagonal family is shaped into a bully who steals chickens and rice, and the stupidity and arrogance of the hexagonal Yixian have been gradually shaped in the rumors passed on again and again, a few years ago, the world only thought that he was a "dark fool" of the governor, and now looking back, he can really be worthy of stupidity.

Taking this opportunity, someone with a heart turned out the clumsy performance of the Rokkaku family in the Battle of Fukakusa and the Battle of Katsurakawa, as well as the story of joining forces with the Hatakeyama family to attack the Miyoshi family a few years ago, but finally making a joke, and the public opinion in Kinai was one-sided to satirize this greedy and arrogant and stupid family governor.

And the shogunate was gritted his teeth with a simple hatred by the Kira family, and Ashikaga Yoshiki hated the bastards of the Kira family even more for abolishing him a powerful arm, and he even wondered if there was Kira Yoshishi behind this who was hiding behind the scenes to lead the change, but fortunately, he was still sensible, and when he carefully scrutinized and found out that Kira Yoshiki had no chance to predict in advance, he had focused on the strategy of the eastern country all these years, and he had rarely asked about the two counties of Kinai, and at most there was a set of relevant plans, and he might not be able to make such a detailed judgment and decision.

It's just that in this way, it is very uncomfortable for the shogunate to be caught in the middle, but fortunately, Ninagawa came over with news from the front. Tokihide Nakajo said that he didn't know that Mibuchi Yamato Moriden actually conveyed the shogunate's imperial teachings. Because Mibuchi Yamato Shouden occasionally felt the wind and cold, he came to Otsu and developed a high fever, and he couldn't afford to be ill and couldn't read the imperial teachings. It's not good at this time in Otsu, so I'm really sorry Yunyun.

Even if the shogunate knew that he was talking nonsense, he had to cooperate with this set of plays, Ashikaga Yoshiteru snorted angrily and coldly regarded as acquiescing to their unscrupulousness, and then Ninagawa pro-chief proposed that the Rokkaku family's repeated violations of the border were really against the laws of the shogunate, but this war still found that the Rokkaku family had serious drawbacks, the samurai were weak and incompetent, and the morale was low, although there were 25,000 troops in the air, they were beaten to pieces. In fact, it is implying that the Rokkaku family is unreliable, or the Kira family is more reliable.

It is an indisputable fact that the surrender was announced after only 600 losses, no matter how the Rokkaku family argued, it was useless, and the reasons for emphasizing objective factors that everyone was an alliance so I surrendered were untenable, and even Ashikaga Yoshiteru, who was not good at military strategy, was worried about the situation of the Rokkaku Army, especially after getting the first-hand war report, he frowned deeply.

"This hexagonal army is really too disagreeable, how can you be loyal to the shogunate if you are so lazy, how can you protect the foundation of the shogunate?"

Ninagawa's pro-chief bowed down and said earnestly: "So this is the reason why His Majesty dared to attack at night but did not kill the killer. If the Hexagonal Army is strong and defeats us one after another, it will really be taken away by the Hexagonal Family, and there is nothing to say about the land of the two counties. But in fact, the Rokkaku family has a greedy heart but no corresponding strength, and since he became the governor of the family, Rokkaku Jingzhao has repeatedly played clumsily in battles, exposing the weakness of its inability to understand the military strategy, if the Rokkaku Hall is the shogunate general, it is really difficult to say whether it can stop the Miyoshi army......"

Ashikaga Yoshiki waved his hand and said calmly: "No need to say any more, just tell your plan!" ”

The chief of Ninagawa bowed again, and replied respectfully: "We respectfully ask His Royal Highness to decide, in exchange for the ownership of 15,000 captives in exchange for the land of Omi Kurita County, for this purpose I, the Kira family, is willing to cede 200,000 koku of grain and grass, and 50,000 pieces of copper as a reward, and at the same time, we will do our best to make up for the loss of prestige for Rokkaku Kyozhao, and should sign a no-war pact with the Rokkaku family to ensure the long-term peace of Omi Province." ”

Ashikaga Yoshiteru didn't bother to care about this anymore, and after a little consideration, he said, "Do you exchange prisoners and money and food for a county?" This price is indeed generous enough, presumably the ministers of the Hexagon Jingzhao and the Hexagonal family have nothing to say, so let's set it like this, you go! ”

The shogunate's judgment soon spread to the Rokkaku family, and when they saw the lines of cold judgments written on the Imperial Teachings of the Princess, Rokkaku Yoshiken and Rokkaku Yoshiharu couldn't help but hug each other and cry, 15,000 elites fell into the hands of the Kira Army and couldn't come back, what did they do to deal with the Kira Army? Is there less than 10,000 defeated troops in your hands? The 10,000 troops whose morale collapsed were also sent in the past, so why bother to bring humiliation on themselves again!

But it was too humiliating for Li Taijun to be ceded out in his own hands, it was a hundred times more uncomfortable than scolding him for being an arrogant and stupid family governor, but the rokkaku Yoshiken had no choice, the advantage of military strength was completely destroyed, and the advantage of public opinion ran to the side of the Kira family, and the genealogy retainers were also quite complaining about his decision, and the bastards who were clamoring to seize the two counties before this time turned their faces and denied that they put all the responsibility on him, the family governor, which was a hundred times more shameless than the Kira family!

The Hexagon father and son were worried for several days and did not come up with a better way, and the North Omi Asai family showed signs of instability again, and then the Rokkaku father and son panicked, in case they were hit by the Asai family, it would not be a matter of losing a county, but the Hexagon family was completely finished, and he could be sure that these bastards would not pity him as the governor, but would take this opportunity to grab their own territory, and then ask the new master for credit.

In the end, Rokkaku Yoshiken gritted his teeth and agreed, so he could get all the captives back and get 200,000 stone grain and grass and 50,000 Guan Yongle money, and then the two sides signed a no-war pact, the effect of which was limited to the fact that the two sides must not invade each other at any time and in any form, otherwise they would be severely punished by the shogunate and deprived of all territories, and it did not involve the connection of treaties such as mutual assistance, and it was better to say that it was an alliance than a peace agreement.

The Kira family was quite kind, and soon rehabilitated the reputation of Rokkaku Yoshiken, and it all turned into a misunderstanding, and the night battle of the mountain was also described as the Rokkaku family thought that the shogunate acquiesced to the raid of the Kira family, and then gave up resistance and quickly retreated. The onlookers were also happy to learn about this farce.

Hisamasa Asai didn't expect the two families to reconcile so quickly. The hexagonal family didn't say a word, and let go of Litai County. The 25,000-strong army quickly gathered in Kita-Omi, and Rokkaku Yoshiken almost frightened Asai Hisamasa with red eyes, and hurriedly sent a messenger to say that this was a "misunderstanding", in fact, he was worried about whether his in-laws would have difficulty to help, and then without saying a word, he ran back to Kotani Castle with his own coalition army and closed his door.

After this toss, the spirit of the hexagonal Yixian was hit with some problems, and it didn't take long for him to become a monk and live in seclusion. The previous name of the hexagonal Yixian has been abolished, and the name is called Hexagonal Zuojing Doctor Chengzhen, or Baguan Zhai Chengzhen.

In the Buddhist hall of Guanyin Temple City, a hexagonal Yixian dressed as a monk summoned the retainers of the genealogy and said solemnly: "This family can't admit defeat yet, my hexagonal family can't admit defeat, my family also has to rescue the sister and brother-in-law in the Pumen Temple, my hexagonal family still has the strong enemy of Sanhao Changqing in front, defeating the Sanhao family can revive the reputation of the hexagonal family, are you willing to struggle to survive in the declining hexagonal family?" Follow the family and work hard. You are still the retainers of the genealogy, if my hexagonal family perishes. You can only be other people's ministers, and you must be able to understand the difference between genealogy and foreign ministers! ”

Goto Xianfeng and the other genealogy family veterans were shocked, and said with a stunned expression: "I understand!" Without the banner of the Sasaki clan, we will have nothing, please rest assured, we will do our best to help the lord revive the family name! ”

……

At the beginning of May, on a sunny morning, the golden sun gradually climbs to the top of Yatsugatake, and the thick fog that shrouds the stone castle seems to be slowly opened, and the long-lost brilliant sun shines on the earth, neither as dazzling as the scorching midday sun, nor like the twilight of the evening sunset, it is so warm and full of faint golden light, moistening the flowers and trees in the mountains, this is the best time of the year in Shinano.

The strong mountain wind blew into the stone city, blowing away the putrid smell in the city, the streets of the city were littered with the corpses of civilians who had fallen to no one to clean up, and there were only the city guards who shrank at the head of the city, since the defeat of the army in Kawanakajima last year, Sanada Yutaka took 800 remnants of the army to coerce more than 1,000 villagers to hide on the stone city to hold on, and more than half a year has passed.

In the last half of the autumn, Murakami Yoshikiyo led the army of 6,000 people, which increased to 8,000 after the spring sowing, and built a tight siege network from Saima Castle and Nekoya Castle in the north to Sanada Castle in the east, Toyojo Castle in the west, and Isesaki Castle in the south.

Since you can't fight the mountain, you will simply use the means of cutting off food to consume you, since October last year to the present, the Sanada army has not had a grain of income, and all the farmers in Sanada Township who risked their lives to go up the mountain to deliver grain were arrested and exiled to Sado Island for mining, and what is worse is that the peasants who came here lacked food and clothing, and more than half of them froze to death and starved to death in the city.

But where did Sanada Yutaka dare to let them go, everyone endured hunger and cold together, at this time, if all the villagers were let go, how much morale would there be in the defenders in the city, no one wanted to live to earn a life, and no one wanted to be buried with the Takeda family, but he Sanada Yutaka couldn't let go, he was stuck in his heart to be a loyal minister and not the second master, Takeda Shingen had the grace of knowing him, and he couldn't give up the Takeda family at this time.

Smart people are often more paranoid, and they have to go to the dark when they recognize a way, Yazawa Yoritsuna can't say anything about him, but he was ridiculed by Sanada Yutaka several times and asked him to join the enemy, because this matter makes the intimacy between brothers a little cold, and sometimes Sanada Yukitaka also regrets it, but his son is still in the hands of the Takeda family and has no choice at all, even if he doesn't mention loyalty, he always has to think about the heir.

In order to appease the villagers who were in turmoil in the city, Sanada Yutaka swore that he would rob the grain in the spring of the next year, so that he could survive the day of the half-year food outage, and finally survived until the mouth of early spring, and the food in the city had basically bottomed out, Sanada Yukitaka took 800 remnants of the army to go down the mountain to Isezaki City to grab food, but he accidentally fell into the trap of Murakami Yoshikiyo, and only more than 600 of the 800 men fled back, and the rest of the samurai were trapped outside Isesaki Castle under the mountain.

Most of the soldiers who fled back were wounded, but the city was short of medical care and medicine, and the food was almost gone, and these wounded soldiers could only die in pain after the wound was infected.

The city was starved of food and clothing for half a year, and in desperation, everyone in the city, from the defenders to the peasants, began to supply limited amounts of food, and both the people and the soldiers were one meal per person. The people only gave a bowl of gruel like clear soup for a meal. It's better, and you can still get some rice grains to eat, but it's not much better. The samurai ate rice balls and thick porridge and barely survived.

It was only less than half a month before a large number of peasants starved to death, and many dead bodies died collectively at the gate of the city, but the samurai could not eat enough, and the ashigaru struggled on the edge of life and death and cowered at the warm base of the city wall all day long, where did they have the strength to clean up those dead bodies.

As the temperature rises, the rancid stench is unbearable, and even worse, the plague can strike at any time. The gate of the city has been designated as a forbidden area for life, and it is blocked by a fence around it, and the Sanada army has already defended the city with all its strength, and there is no need to defend the city, just blocking the city gate with these dead corpses is the biggest biological and chemical weapon.

Two or three hundred defenders of Yoneyama Castle and Sagegata City could only defend the city but did not dare to go out to grab food, which was even more difficult, and it was only in May that the famine knocked down all the defenders in the city, and the two city lords saw that the situation was not good and immediately opened the city and surrendered, preferring to go to the prisoner camp to eat three meals a day rather than be locked up in the city to eat one meal a day, but Sanada Yutaka still gritted his teeth and insisted, and his paranoid temperament was interpreted to the extreme in him.

Yoshikiyo Murakami seems to have made up his mind not to attack. Patiently continue to play his food starvation strategy, if you don't come down, I won't go up. Everyone is more patient than anyone, it just so happens that Shinano is doing the withdrawal and merger of the new village, re-planning the farmland responsibility and the development of the new field, Murakami Yoshikiyo as the head of the North Shinano banner promoted to the Ashikaga family tree, and he needs to be responsible for all aspects of government affairs in the North Shinano counties, and he really has no time to distract him from attacking a dead city that is doomed.

The reason why Toishi Castle repeatedly obstructed the army was, firstly, because the terrain was dangerous, and the surrounding branches were horns for each other, so as to help each other to ensure safety, and secondly, it relied on the surrounding reinforcements to protect the flanks, and even if it was surrounded by enemy troops, it could survive the threat of siege safely with the protection of friendly troops, which was similar to the dozens of fortress groups composed of Nishi-Ueno with Minowa Castle and Tagarome Castle as the core, not relying on one fortress to defend the city, but relying on the large-scale effect of several or dozens of fortress groups to block the enemy's large-scale siege.

Therefore, when the horned rice mountain city and the juggernaut city of the stone city fell one after another, and they were besieged in all directions without the help of any reinforcements, this fortified city became a dead city, and what could he do if he was allowed to pile up grain and grass like a mountain, and the elite soldiers were good at fighting? Just cut off the food and grass in the city and the support in the rear, and trap you for a year, two years, three years in the end it will be a dead end.

Stone castle tower, Sanada Yutaka lay on his side for half a day without moving, his body was thin and his hair was messy like a chicken nest, a large handful of long beards had not been taken care of for a long time, many days of hunger made the samurai only lie down to reduce the torture of hunger, the more activities the less strength and the easier it is to starve, when lying still becomes a habit, this mountain city is not far from destruction.

He was in a hurry when he was defeated and retreated last year, and even his wife Kyounin was left in his hometown Sanada Castle and didn't have time to take it to Toshi City, but now he doesn't know where he is and whether he has fallen in, and there are only five hundred people alive in the city, which is still half a month ago, maybe he will wake up one morning and find more people dying of hunger.

Yazawa Yoritsuna pushed the door in weakly, long-term hunger made his body a little swollen, thick eye bags indicate that his mental state is very poor, similar chicken nest head and the smell on his body is difficult to hide, as for lice or something, it has long been strange, Yazawa Yoshizuna is not surprised to see him lying still, and he is also lying on the tatami mat.

"There is not much food, and one meal a day can last for seven or eight days, and if it goes on like this, it will only be changed to one meal every two days."

Sanada Yutaka's eyelids moved, and after a while, he said, "Do you still shoot arrows and feathers that deliver messages every day outside the castle?" ”

"Hmmm! The latest news is that the Echigo side has put back the stables and Taro Hall and the captives, but for some reason they didn't let us go. ”

"The people outside the city are really hearted, they come to persuade us to surrender every day, and they change their ways to tempt us every day, but they don't know that their family will never admit defeat easily!" Sanada Yutaka looked sarcastic, and he didn't look down on the tricks played by Murakami Yoshikiyo, in the eyes of him, a senior siege expert, besieging the city and cutting off food is always the most stupid method, and Murakami Yoshikiyo is obviously this kind of stupid person.

Yoritsuna Yazawa said worriedly: "The city is unstable! A few days ago, the matter of eating dead bodies was dealt with, and everyone had a lot of resentment, if my brother didn't make a quick decision, I was afraid that this city would be sacrificed sooner or later! ”

"You go to appease, you must insist on holding on to ......" Sanada Yutaka panted excitedly: "We can't admit defeat at this time!" Definitely not! ”

Yoritsuna Yazawa shook his head. Knowing that his brother has an almost paranoid mentality towards Takeda Shingen. He vaguely realized that it was not because of the so-called loyalty or the grace of knowledge. Maybe it's because of the love of feathers or something, but this kind of talk is always difficult to speak, and the smarter people tend to become, the more conceited they are.

Neither of them wanted to talk about the difficulties in the city anymore, and after talking for a while, they talked about the release of the prisoners of the Takeda Army, and Yazawa Yoritsuna asked, "Why did the Kira family admit that I would not let go until I was killed?" So far, half of the samurai in the city have died, more than half of Ashigaru has died, and there are not many civilians left. We won't say no! Why keep trapping? ”

"Needless to say, it must have been the idea of the town lord of Kasuga Mountain Castle......" Sanada Yutaka laughed inexplicably: "What has my brother done in Shinano over the years, how many times he has blocked the road of the Kira family, it only takes a little check to know, this town lord must hate me Kotaka very much, so he will never allow me to calmly withdraw Kai." ”

Yoritsuna Yasawa looked at Sanada Yukitaka cautiously and said in a low voice: "There is also news, it has been determined that Genta and Tokujiro died in Hachimangahara. ”

Sanada Yutaka's face changed suddenly, and his face, which was full of persistence and confidence just now, turned gray, and he could no longer support his voice and choked up: "...... Is it finally decided? I killed those two children! I was too greedy to kill them all, what am I holding on to defend the city for? When all the children are dead, what will they keep? ”

Sanada Yutaka closed his eyes in pain to prevent tears from flowing out of his eyes. He was the lord of a castle and the leader of the Shinano ancestors, and he had to maintain his majesty at all times. Even in front of his brother, he has to try to make himself appear less weak.

Yazawa Yoritsuna can understand his brother's painful mood at this time, since he was a child, he has placed too many things on the Sanada Nobutsuna and Sanada Masaki brothers, and carefully cultivated and sent it to Takeda Shingen's side as a close attendant, in recent years, the eldest son Nobutsuna has been quite successful The signs of a generation of fierce generals, but he didn't want to die in Hachimangahara in his early twenties, the second son Sanada Masaki was only fifteen years old, and the battle of Kawanakajima was his first battle to fall here, how could this father be heartbroken.

He also gradually understood what his brother meant, he, the father, usually has no time to discipline his children, so he can only use his life as bait to resist the powerful attack of the Kira family, and then rely on this defense of the city to fight for a credit for the two children who stayed by Takeda Shingen's side, even if Sanada Yutaka died in Stone City, relying on this hard work can still be cultivated by Takeda Shingen's other eyes and leading him to a confidant.

But all this came to naught, the two children died in Hachimangahara, and his father endured a winter without knowing why, and the Kira family chose to tell him the news when the food in the city was exhausted, which was definitely ill-intentioned, but why did Sanada Yutaka accuse the Kira family? As an enemy, he is not obligated to tell him the truth, even if he tells him now, it is out of kindness, and even if he dies, let him be an enlightened ghost.

"One of the two brothers is an Oku close attendant, and the other is a hundred-legged crowd, which should be the safest according to reason, but they don't want the Kira army to raid the main camp and almost take the life of the lord, and the close attendants and samurai of the lord are not counted in the casualties, but they put the lives of Genta and Tokujiro into it...... It's really better to be a human being than a god! ”

"Nope! It's because my brother is too big, but when I come to this encirclement network to win, I will undoubtedly relax my vigilance, who knows that not only did I not do my best but put my own sons into it......" Sanada Yutaka cheered up, took a deep breath and said: "No matter what, we have to find a way out for the hundreds of sons in the city, and we can't sit still, otherwise our persistence will be meaningless!" ”

Yazawa Yorizuna's spirit was shocked, and he secretly excitedly said: "Is my brother enlightened?" That's right, too! The death of the two nephews is still a big blow, if it were me, I would have surrendered to the Kira family a long time ago, this bitter day is really uncomfortable, it is better to end it one day earlier. ”

"You surrender with your sons, and I leave Shinano to join Kai."

Yazawa Yoritsuna was anxious to sweat profusely when he heard it, this is completely different from his assumption, how in the end the elder brother still has to take refuge in the half-dead Takeda family, in his opinion, Shinano samurai's loyalty to the Kai Takeda family is a very, the relationship between the Sanada family and the Takeda family is the royal grace of the Gongong, and their own territory is exchanged for merit, and now the Takeda family is declining and taking the opportunity to join the Kira family is right.

Having said that, he didn't dare to persuade his brother like this, in case he exposed his undisciplined thoughts, it would be worth the loss to annoy his brother, so he changed his words and said: "How can this be done! My brother is the head of my Sanada family, the so-called people are cheap when they leave their hometown, and it is not appropriate for my brother to go to Kai alone after all, even if he goes to Kai, he will be despised by Kai's samurai, at least I have to bring my Sanada family's henchman samurai over, Kai still has Gengoro in the country, and with the loyal and brave samurai of our Sanada family, we can make a comeback......"

Sanada Yutaka shook his head noncommittally: "This matter is settled, send a contact outside the city tomorrow, I know that you must have a way to contact them, so tell Murakami Yoshikiyo that we surrender the city!" ”

The two of them were explaining the things about the dedication of the city, but they heard a noise in the city, and Takashi Kawahara ran in with a strange expression that seemed to be excited and afraid, and when he saw the two brothers, he said, "My lord, the Donggang Hall is here!" Let's go to the city! All the activities in the city are gathered at the head of the city! ”

"What! What did you say! Sanada Yutaka didn't know where he got the strength, jumped up with a "whoosh", grabbed Kawahara Takamasa's arm and glared at him: "You tell me again, who is coming?" Who else is outside the city? What the hell is going on! ”

Kawahara Takamasa's family has been the genealogy of the Sanada family for generations, and his own sister is still the main room of Sanada Yukitaka, compared to the samurai family with big rules, the relationship between the monarch and the minister of the Sanada family is the most harmonious, Kawahara Takamasa said excitedly: "Lord, your maternal grandfather Dongzuna Hall is here!" Outside the city, there is only a small team of packers in the Donggang Palace, which looks like it is loaded with a lot of things from a distance, and we are saved! ”

Sanada Yutaka took a few steps back in disbelief, sat down and smiled bitterly: "I didn't expect to be calculated to this point!" Lost...... Lost and defeated! ”

The other two people in the room were frightened by his performance, and Sanada Yukitaka, who didn't know what caused him, sighed, and Yazawa Yoritsuna asked anxiously, "Brother, what's wrong?" Shouldn't you be happy not to see your loved ones for a long time? ”

"Don't talk about it, you'll find out later."

It is really not suitable to pass through the Otemen Gate there to become a forbidden area of life, Sanada Yukitaka opened the hand-holding door that had been blocked for half a year, and he hurriedly freshened up with the retainers of the genealogy, and barely sorted out a decent appearance before going out to greet him, and saw a thin old man walking slowly on crutches, and the samurai of the Sanada family saw the old man kneeling and saluting, as if he was the owner of this castle, he was Sanada Yukitaka's maternal grandfather, the last governor of the Shino clan, Umino Tsutsuna. (To be continued......)