As a nobleman who has lost power, if you want to mix well in this Warring States era, you must first learn to observe words and emotions and judge the situation. And the Nakagomon family, which has established in-law relations with Sengoku daimyo such as the Imagawa family and the Luo family, is naturally one of the experts.

Therefore, after learning about the content of the negotiation between the Luo family and the Shimazu family, Nakayumen Xuanxiu, who was temporarily pulled by Zhuang Ding, immediately knew what he should do.

This negotiation is obviously advantageous for the Luo family. In the negotiation process, there is no need for him, as an intermediary, to favor the Luo family too much, which is definitely a good thing for him. The Shimazu family, on the other hand, is obviously on the disadvantaged side. Although his relationship with the Shimazu family is still okay, he can't compare with the Luo family, if the Luo family is at a disadvantage this time, he will even favor the Luo family in turn, so naturally he will not favor the Shimazu family.

In fact, in the past, when he went out to mediate with the shogunate on behalf of the imperial court, what he was most afraid of was actually encountering those conflicting sides of equal strength, and now like the current mediation, where one of the parties has a huge advantage, he really likes it the most, especially the dominant side or the more partial-sided side in his heart. In this case, he should simply be a witness, and he can also take it as his own merit afterwards, and after returning to Kyoto, he can also invite the emperor and the shogunate to take credit.

As for the Shimazu family, they originally thought that it would take at least a while for the arrival of the mediation envoys between the imperial court and the shogunate, but the Luo family invited Nakayumon Xuanxiu so quickly. And Nakagomon Nobuhide is also a mediator they recognize, so although the Shimazu family is suspicious. But negotiations began.

This time the negotiations. Indeed, the Shimazu family finally relented. For example, he was willing to give up part of his territory, and was even willing to send hostages to Luo's family, but unfortunately, these did not meet Zhengliang's requirements, so the two sides were at a stalemate again.

It was soon the end of June in the second year of Yonglu (1559 AD), and it was about to enter July.

On the side of the Shimazu family and the Ito family's coalition forces, after the conflict between the two sides more than half a month ago, the materials were simply divided equally. The supplies were consumed faster because of the lack of unified arrangements, so by now, all the supplies in the barracks were really exhausted.

After running out of food and other supplies, all the people starved for two days, and then they really couldn't bear it anymore, and some people simply jumped into the nearby Beichuan River, trying to catch some fish and other food in the river (since there was no burning oil and other things to ignite, these people could only eat it raw), but the fish in these rivers were not so easy to catch. As a result, not many fish were caught, but more people drowned because of it.

Even stricter is. Due to the fact that it is very unhygienic to eat raw, and since the lack of ignition materials, the coalition forces have been plunged into darkness at night, and if there is another heavy rain, the guys who are not in good health will fall ill because of eating unclean raw fish, and some people will even die of illness soon after. In desperation, everyone had no choice but to throw the bodies of these people into Beichuan again. So, since entering June, the salvage team in the north and south camps of the Luo family has been really busy.

With fish in the river difficult to catch and dangerous to eat, some coalition soldiers simply came up with the idea of bark and some mud in the rocks. Don't think it seems incredible, but it's like a person who gets lost in the desert and lacks water, and in the event of a life or death, they will even drink their own urine.

It's just that, even so, the Shimazu family still gritted their teeth and insisted on the Luo family in the negotiations. However, to the surprise of Masara, the soldiers who had escaped from the coalition camp before learned that this time it should be the Ito family who first had the intention of surrendering to the Luo family, so why is it that the Shimazu family is more active now? And the Ito family is not moving?

"Could it be that after the estrangement between the Shimazu family and the Ito family, the Shimazu family's camp faced their side, while the Ito family's camp faced the south side of Matsuo Castle, and they couldn't get in touch with themselves directly?" For this reason, Zhengliang couldn't help but think.

Due to the limited location in the valley, when the Shimazu family and the Ito family were still brothers, they jointly defended the siege of the Luo family in the north and south directions, but after the two sides were estranged, the two sides naturally did not jointly defend again, and the camp of the Shimazu family was originally facing the position where Masara was located in the north, so it was naturally the army of the Luo family responsible for defending Masara's side (this is also the reason why the Shimazu family continuously sent people to negotiate with Masara's side, and the Ito family did not react, After all, the Ito family should not know anything at this time), as for the other side of the position, the Ito family is in charge, and the two sides are also putting each other up at this time.

Just when the Shimazu family was still in a stalemate with the Luo family in the negotiations, Shinnosuke Akabane, the military advisor in the southern Kyushu region at this time, sent someone to bring good news to Masara, and at the same time brought an unexpected person.

"The Ito family's important minister, Mira Shigeji, has led the Mira family to submit to the Luo family, and at the same time, under his persuasion, the Ito family's important town Kakuto Castle, which is located at the border junction of the four countries of Hinata, Osumi, Satsuma, and Higo, also surrendered, and when he came down, the central and northern regions of the Hyuga country were already owned by the Luo family, and one of the Luo family's armies also entered the southern region of the Hyuga country at this time."

"As for Satsuma Country, due to the surrender of Kakudo Castle, which had previously agreed to protect the belly of Satsuma Province, the northern flank and central part of Satsuma Province and the western part of Osumi Province were all exposed to the Luo family's troops. Since Yoshihisa-sama was leading his family's army to fight against the Luo family's army in Dezui Castle in the North Satsuma region, his family was in danger in the central and southern parts of Satsuma Province, as well as the western and central parts of Osumi Province. Yoshihisa-sama is no longer able to cope with the current situation. Please tell Lord Guijiu that the family is really powerless, and now it has decided to surrender to the Luo family. ”

After meeting the Shimazu family's negotiator, Tadaro Ijiin, and others. Say it all in one go. Then he knelt down on the ground and stopped talking. This person is none other than Shinna Chunasa, one of the pillars of the former Shimazu family. Previously, his father Shinna Tadagen and brother Shinna Tadayao were killed in the battle with the Luo family, and even the bodies of the two were later sent back to the Shinna family's home by the Luo family's military advisor Shinnosuke Akabane.

The family suddenly lost two pillars, and the only remaining man, Xinna Zhongzeng, was not a smart and capable person, and he was also weak and sickly, which suddenly caused the entire Xinna family to fall into a panic (which is why the Xinna family suddenly summoned the family army led by Shinna Zhongzeng under Shimazu Yoshihisa to return to the territory, at this time the Xinna family needed a male with the qualifications to inherit the family governor and some troops to stabilize the shape of the family). You know, if there is a lack of wise leaders in the family. The family is likely to be destroyed in the future in the struggle between the wealthy families.

It's just that since he is already in the Shimazu family's camp, why should he worry about his family being bullied or even swallowed up by other wealthy families in the same camp because of the loss of the pillar of the family? Because in essence, the Shimazu family is still a relatively centralized interest alliance group at this time, even if the family governor has great jurisdiction over all the wealthy families under his command, it is still impossible to completely eliminate the contradictions and even struggles between these wealthy families.

Take the Oda family, the most powerful family in history, for example, Oda Nobunaga was strong enough and centralized enough, but when the two major forces in the family, Hashiba Hideyoshi (that is, the future Toyotomi Hideyoshi) and Shibata Katsuie, who had always been at odds with Hideyoshi, joined forces to attack the Echigo region, and then Hashiba Hideyoshi directly led his subordinates to leave (fortunately, Shibata Katsuyoshi was able to support it alone). If it is an ordinary family, it is estimated that it will be pitted by Hashiba Hideyoshi, and the slightly weaker family will be defeated by the enemy because of this). What else can Oda Nobunaga do afterwards besides scolding and punishing Hashiba Hideyoshi a little?

Similarly, for the Shinna family, perhaps the Shimazu family at this time will still take care of the contribution made by the newly deceased Shinna Tadagen and Shinna Tadayao to the Shimazu family, and take care of the Shinna family a little, but as long as time passes, even the new governor of the Shimazu family ascends to the throne, and the heir of the Shinna family does not reach the status of the dead Shinna Tadagen and Shinna Tadayao in the Shimazu family before, then once the Shinna family has a conflict with other wealthy families in the same camp, and the other party's status in the Shimazu family is higher than that of the Shinna family, The most likely outcome is that the Shimazu family will favor the wealthy family, which is more important to it.

Such a situation is normal for the Xinna family, who have witnessed the prosperity and decline of countless wealthy families in Satsuma, so after the death of Xinna Zhongyuan and Xinna Zhongyao, it naturally caused the strange behavior of the Xinna family before.

Of course, if Shimazu Takahisa, who is the governor of the family at this time, personally goes out to appease the Xinna family, at least he can ensure the stability of the Xinna family, but at this time, Shimazu Takahisa is besieged by the Luo family in the mountains and valleys of Hyuga Country, so naturally he can't pacify him.

As for Shimazu Yoshihisa, the son-in-law of the Shimazu family, he did act in time to appease him at this time, but at this time he was just the heir of the governor (for the retainers, as long as you have not inherited the position of the governor, and there are good competitors, then they generally will not believe in the promises of these heirs at will), and they are not the governor, so the pacification effect is limited. In the end, even though Shimazu Yoshihisa did need a lot of troops to deal with the army of the Luo family who had invaded the Satsuma region, he gritted his teeth and allowed Shinna Tadazen to return to the Shinna family with the Shinna family.

Originally, the Shinna family was already nervous enough at this time, but as a result, the Ito family defenders on the border between Hyuga Province and Higo Province surrendered to the Luo family on all fronts, which suddenly caused the Shimazu family, including the Shinna family, to suffer a bolt from the sky.

What's even more serious is that with the surrender of the Ito family Kakuto Castle, one of the armies of the Luo family directly bypassed the Shimazu family defenders who had previously concentrated in Oguchi Castle in the northeast of Satsuma Province, and directly killed the north-central region of Satsuma Province. And the new Najia is bearing the brunt.

In the face of the army of the Luo family, Xinna Zhongzeng showed a decisiveness that he had never seen before, and gritted his teeth and led the Xinna family to surrender to the Luo family. After all, judging from the fact that his father and brother who followed Shimazu Takahisa on the expedition were killed in battle, and even the corpses were brought back by the Luo family, Shimazu Takahisa estimated that this time it was really more auspicious. And even if Takahisa Shimazu didn't have an accident. With the current invasion of the Luo family's multi-way army. And how long can the Shimazu family hold out if they can't deal with it all? In addition, at this time, the army of the Luo family has already arrived at the door of the Xinna family, does this still need to be considered? Naturally, the Xinna family was kept first.

And human nature is greedy, so after surrendering and being invited by the Luo family's military advisor Shinnosuke Akabane, Shinna Tadazen put his heart on the side, anyway, since he has already done the first year of junior high (betrayed the Shimazu family), it is better to do fifteen (this will win more merit for the Shinna family from the Luo family), so he directly came to Bungo Province by water with the personnel of the Luo family's information cabinet. After that, he finally came to Masarashi's military camp by land, and personally told the Shimazu family's Ijiin Tadaro and others about the situation in southern Kyushu at this time and the Shinna family's betrayal of the Shimazu family and the arms of the Luo family.

Of course, in any case, such an approach is really a bit despicable for a betrayer, so after saying all the words, Shinna Chunzen directly knelt on the ground, not even daring to raise his head, let alone look at the people of the Shimazu family.

And on the side of Ijiin Tadaro and others, at this time, they actually couldn't take care of Xinna Zhongzeng at all. After all, the news brought by Shinna Tadazen was too big a blow to them, and from the tone of Shinna Chunassu's speech, as well as the many local noble clans' submissions taken out by the envoys of the Luo family, as well as the heads of some of the people (these heads were the heads of some of the retainers of the Shimazu family who remained in Satsuma Province. He was killed by the Luo family's various armies because he was unwilling to surrender and stubbornly resisted), and these news are true.

Faced with such a situation, Ijiin Tadaro and the others naturally could no longer negotiate with the Luo family, but ran back to the Shimazu family's camp in a wolf manner. And after getting the news, everyone in the Shimazu family camp, including Shimazu Takahisa, immediately fell into a dead silence.

When they first joined forces with the Ito family to support the Saeki family, the Shimazu family and the Ito family jointly arranged the defense lines in their respective territories.

Among them, the Ito family formed a defensive line against the Roshi family in the northern part of Hyuga Province and Nakayama Castle in the northern part of Hyuga Province and supported the operations of the two coalition forces in Bungo Province.

The Ogawakan and Kakudo Castle in the central part of Hyuga Province bordering Higo Province are an important defense line for the Ito family to protect the central part of Hyuga Province, and Kakuto Castle is also responsible for protecting the belly of the Shimazu family and the western and central regions of Osumi Province.

Finally, the Ito family was located in Matsuyama Castle in the southern part of Hyuga Province, and served as an important town for the Ito family to continue their attacks on the territory of the Kitago family and the liver family in the southern region of Hyuga Province, and also assisted the Shimazu family in guarding the flank of the central region of Osumi Province, which was already occupied by the Shimazu family.

As for the Shimazu family, they first deployed heavy troops at Izumi Castle and Oguchi Castle in the northern part of Satsuma Province to guard against the Luo family on the Higo Province side. Among them, Oguchi Castle not only affects the safety of the north-central and central regions of Satsuma Province, but also affects the safety of the central part of Hyuga Province, once the Luo family attacks from here, not only can they take the opportunity to attack the territory of the Shimazu family in multiple directions, but they can also take the opportunity to bypass Kakuto Castle and directly enter the central region of Hyuga Province, or even the southern region.

Secondly, the Shimazu family deployed naval forces along the coast of Satsuma Province and the Osumi Strait in the south, on the one hand, to guard against the attack of the Luo family's naval army from the west, and on the other hand, to suppress the almost nominal Liver Fu family naval army (which had been almost wiped out by the Shimazu family naval army and Wang Zhi's Ming pirate fleet), and to intercept the support of the Liver Fu family from the wealthy family on the coastal islands.

In the end, the Shimazu family deployed heavy troops in Plains Castle in the central region of Osumi Province, and together with the Ito family Matsuyama Castle on the flank, they put pressure on the southern region of Osumi Province and the southern region of Hyuga Province.

Such a joint defense system, for both the Shimazu family and the Ito family, first of all, such a defensive arrangement is necessary, even if the other side does not cooperate in defense, they still need to do so, and in order to guard against the other side, it is also necessary to deploy defensive forces in their respective central border areas.

Now, with an alliance and mutual agreement to defend together, they are able to concentrate their forces in the central region into the various important towns that have been deployed before (but also create an emptiness in the belly).

This arrangement is indeed a very good defense system, but it also implies certain risks, such as the Luo family using heavy troops to capture Kakuto Castle or Oguchi Castle, which is the junction of the two sides, and then they can carry out a breakthrough invasion from the belly area of the two families, so before the original Bungo country to support the Saeki family, in order to prevent accidents, both Shimazu Takahisa and Ito Yoshisuke respectively strengthened the concentration of troops in these two areas.

It's just that now I never thought that the Luo family would break through from the northern region of Hyuga Country, and then I don't know what method to use to make all the defense lines of the Ito family in the central region of Hyuga Country surrender. This change in the Ito family suddenly made the area of the Shimazu family in the central part of Satsuma Province and the western part of Osumi Province an easy place for the Luo family to invade, dividing the Shimazu family's defensive towns and completely disrupting the Shimazu family's own defense system.

At this time, no matter how powerful Shimazu Yoshihisa and the others who stayed in the territory were, they could not coordinate the joint defense of various important towns at the same time, and it was even more impossible to extinguish the fires in various places after the Luo family invaded the belly of the territory. What's even more serious is that at this time, nearly half of the backbone and elite of the Shimazu family were besieged in the valley, which naturally further accelerated the speed of the collapse of the Satsuma and Osumi kingdoms.

Originally, Shimazu Takahisa had insisted on negotiating with the Luo family, and what he relied on was the persistence of his own territory, so that he could get as many benefits as possible from the Luo family, but now, with the collapse of the defense system, his last reliance has also been lost.

"Order, let everyone come here!" After being alone in the military tent for a full day and a night, and even a few more gray hairs on his head, Takahisa Shimazu finally ordered.

The Shimazu family really can't hold on any longer! It's time to surrender.

(Special note here: the previous chapters have mistaken the relationship between Shinna Chung-won and Shinna Chung-yao, who is actually the eldest son of Shinna Chung-mo, not a brother, and could have avoided mentioning this issue, but for the sake of respecting historical facts, I would like to make a special statement here, and I apologize to everyone.) (To be continued......)