The Yanagawa Domain is located in the Bungo Kingdom, which is exactly the middle of Kyushu Island, stuck between the Han army that landed in Hakata Bay in the west and the Satsuma Domain that marched north in the east.

As soon as they entered the territory of the Liuhe Domain in the morning, they were immediately surrounded by the soldiers who were waiting for the domain, but fortunately, they were prepared and immediately reported their identities - in order to prevent the soldiers below from killing people in anger, Zhou Pu did not report his name, but pretended to be one of Shimazu Tadano's guards and mixed in with the group.

After Shimazu Tadano reported his name, the feudal soldiers who surrounded them all changed color, and they had already heard that the Shimazu family had taken advantage of the Han attack on Kyushu and the general turmoil on the island to return to the shogunate, and attacked those feudal lords who had personal grudges before, so they became even more vigilant.

They first sent people to report the situation to the castle, and then slowly walked towards the castle with Shimazu Tadano.

The area of the 100,000-stone domain is not very large, and the Liuhe domain is not very far from the border, and when they reached noon, they had already come to the castle of the domain, and at this time, the person who reported the news before had already received the order to come back.

"The lord of the feudal domain has ordered them to be taken to the castle for interrogation by him." He spoke briefly of the order.

Then, Zhou Pu's group of people were taken into the already heavily guarded feudal city by the feudal soldiers.

The array of feudal soldiers everywhere did not bring much fear to Zhou Pu, because he knew that since Tachibana Zong Mao was willing to call them to his side, it meant that he was a little shaken in his heart—in the current situation, as long as he was still shaken in his heart, it was enough to take advantage of it.

Soon, they arrived at the castle tower inside the castle, and by this time, Muneshige Tachibana and his retainers were already in the hall on the first floor.

As soon as Zhou Pu entered this hall, he saw an old man kneeling on the couch in the center of the hall, his face was full of wrinkles, his body was thin, and he looked like a person who had entered his twilight years, and he was older than Shimazu Tadashi. Like everyone else, he had a Tsukiyo head, and a black hat on his head, and the hair that showed from the edge of the hat was all white, and even his face was full of indescribable exhaustion.

However, even so, between his expressions, he could still see a little bit of the sharpness of the year, and the seemingly declining body contained infinite energy, as if he could stand up and lead the army to fight the enemy at any time.

As soon as he saw Shimazu Tadano and others coming in, Tachibana Soshige just nodded slightly, and there was no clue on his face, while Shimazu Tadano and Zhou Pu both knelt down directly and saluted, and then knelt on the ground and did not speak.

"Your Shimazu family, are you doing it yourself, or are you colluding with the big man?" After a while, Tachibana Soshige, who had been silent, finally asked. "You're very well prepared, I'm afraid you've already contacted Han Ko, right?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it was audible throughout the hall.

He first questioned, followed by a tone of affirmation, and used the word Hanko, which seems to be very tough now.

"Kaiyu Domain, our Shimazu family is suffering from the oppression of the shogunate for many years, and there are even some rats who are very disrespectful to us through the power of the shogunate. It is precisely because we have been wronged for many years that we are determined to take revenge, not because we have been bewitched by anyone. Shimazu Tadano replied carefully, "The shogunate is now under attack by the Han, and seeing that Kyushu is not safe, it is a godsend for us, so we decided to take this opportunity to settle accounts with the shogunate and those who are fake and powerful!" Our feudal lord wants to have a very good relationship with you, and I also know that you have suffered a lot of grievances and oppression from the shogunate's side before, so the feudal lord sent me here to try to do great things with you! ”

Shimazu Tadano's words caused a commotion among the elders present, and people's faces became even more ugly. The people present were all human spirits, and they could naturally see that Shimazu Tadanon did not directly answer the question of whether he had colluded with the Han in advance, but only defended the Shimazu family for doing this, and it was obvious that this answer had been revealed.

However, unlike the elders of the family, Tachibana Somao was much calmer, and it seemed that he already knew the answer.

"The Shimazu family...... It's really daring. I don't know whether it was praise or ridicule, he suddenly laughed indifferently, "Colluding with the Han Kou to make the lives of Japan miserable, you really did it!" ”

"I don't agree with what the feudal lord said." Because of the sudden pressure, Shimazu Tadano's face became more solemn, "The oppression that our Shimazu family was subjected to before, the feudal lord has also seen how greedy and tyrannical the shogunate was before, and the feudal lord must have deeply understood it...... Although we got the surnames Aoi and Matsudaira, it was just a pretense of the shogunate, in fact, the shogunate has never forgiven us who were their enemies before! According to what the shogunate has been doing all along, if we don't do anything, the shogunate will sooner or later do something to us, and they will use all kinds of excuses to cut off our fiefdoms, and then either change them or remove them directly, so that our Shimazu family will end up like the Fukushima family and the Tanaka family! In that case, instead of sitting and waiting, it is better to fight to the death and take this rare opportunity to fight back, so that the shogunate can no longer threaten the Shimazu family! Lord, if you think about it, isn't the threat posed to us by the shogunate also on your head? Isn't our predicament the same as yours? How could a peerless hero like the lord of the clan endure the humiliation of being subservient to the Tokugawa family? Instead of being silently patient, let's fight back with us! ”

His words were very impassioned, but Tachibana Soshige was not touched by them, but just looked at him calmly, as if thinking about how much sincerity there was in his words.

"The shogunate oppressed you...... This is true, everyone can see it, but doesn't the big man bully people? Didn't the big man come here to seek benefits from Japan? After a while, he said indifferently, "Now under the rule of the shogunate, although we are not comfortable, but at least we are still the lords of a feudal domain, but if the Han win the war, how much leeway can they leave us?" In case the Great Han Dynasty was more strict than the Shogunate, then we would probably regret it - besides, no matter how bad the Shogunate was, it was also a Japanese person, and the Great Han was a scourge of foreign invasion, and instead of helping the Shogunate to eliminate the trouble, we went to assist the Great Han to fight the Shogunate, what do you think the people of the world will think? How much do you think we can get out of this? ”

"The shogunate is the shogunate, not Japan, and the world is not the world of the Tokugawa family, and the imperial court is where the orthodoxy of Japan lies. The shogunate is not only bullying us, but also the imperial court! The Tokugawa family relied on deceit and brutality to steal the power of the court after the death of Lord Taiko, and insulted the court and the emperor many times, which shows that they have no loyalty in their hearts, and they are not qualified to represent Japan! The Han Dynasty was the dynasty of the Central Plains, which had been friendly with our country for generations, and had been communicating with each other for many years, but after the Tokugawa shogunate established its foundation, it had been lawless and reckless, which caused the anger of the heavens and the resentment of the people, and made the relationship between the two countries increasingly corrupt. The Emperor of the Han Dynasty saw that the shogunate bullied the emperor and corrupted the discipline, was violent and willful, so he made up his mind to crusade against the shogunate, this is to restore the discipline of our country, to save the suffering people of the world, and by no means to be an enemy of Japan! Even the imperial court was very satisfied with the Han Dynasty's move. ”

"Imperial Court ...... Satisfied? There were more whispers in the hall, and even Tachibana Muneshige finally wavered slightly. The imperial court has already united with the people of the Han Dynasty? How do you know? ”

This news is really shocking, the imperial court has always been the legitimacy of Japan, although it does not have much actual power, but after all, there is a great name. If the imperial court supported the Han Dynasty and issued a proclamation urging the world to crusade against the shogunate, then the Tokugawa shogunate probably would not have much of a righteous name, at least the shogunate could no longer say that it was fighting against the Han on behalf of Japan.

"Ever since the Emperor of the Great Han decided to use force against the shogunate, of course he had to send someone over to find out the actual situation in Japan, and we have always been in contact with the envoys of the Great Han." With a hint of ostentation, Shimazu replied with his head held high, "It was this envoy who contacted the imperial court and reached an agreement with the imperial court - and before the Han attacked Kyushu, we had already sent someone to inform the imperial court, and the imperial court must have let His Majesty the Emperor and several important ministers escape from Kyoto in accordance with the prior agreement. With its own strength alone, how could the shogunate be an opponent of the Great Han? ”

"The Imperial Court and His Majesty the Emperor have fled from Kyoto?" Tachibana Somao was even more surprised, but after all, he had gone through a lot of storms, so he quickly regained his composure, "Great Han...... It's really far-reaching, and it's already done so many things when the shogunate was still unconscious......"

"Yes, so the feudal lord, please see, what capital does the shogunate have to fight against the Han now?" Shimazu Tadani laughed, "The Great Han has landed now, and several places are fighting with the people of the Shogunate, you see, the Shogunate can't even resist if it defeats the Great Han!" Now both Nagasaki and Fukuoka have been defeated...... Sooner or later, the Great Han will advance to the whole of Kyushu and sweep away the shogunate's power in Kyushu! Combined with the strength of our Shimazu family, it should be easy to maintain the stability of the whole of Kyushu. ”

This is both an encouragement and a secret threat - the Liuhe Domain is on the island of Kyushu, if the Han can sweep the shogunate army and occupy Kyushu, he will definitely be able to fight the Liuhe Domain, and the Shimazu clan will also help them to pacify all parts of Kyushu, and if the Liuhe Domain wants to be the enemy of the Han, then it will definitely face a flank attack from both sides.

The Liuhe Domain, a 100,000-stone domain, was already very difficult to face the Satsuma Domain, not to mention the Great Han soldiers who had defeated the shogunate one after another? No wonder as soon as he said this, everyone's faces were pale.

"The shogunate's army in Kyushu was originally small in number and uneven, so it was normal that it could not defeat the Han. However, the shogunate still had a large army in Honshu, and the Great Han might not be able to win, and ...... Even if the imperial court takes refuge in the Han Dynasty, I am afraid it will be difficult to convince the people of the world. After a long time, Tachibana said.

"The shogunate does have a large army in Honshu, but it is thousands of miles away, where can I take care of Kyushu Island now?" Shimazu Tadaneng was not in a hurry, "The Great Han attacked all the way like this, the shogunate army was defeated and retreated, and it was already a blessing to be able to keep the old nest in the Kanto region, where can we talk about recovering Kyushu?" Don't forget, Edo is far away, but the Han army has already reached the front of the enemy, and although their occupation area is not large now, several large armies of the shogunate have been defeated by them, and maybe they will hit the Yanagawa domain at any time. ”

Tachibana Muneshige was silent again.

He also knew in his heart that what the other party said was right. Now that the Great Han has landed for three days, although there has been no definite news from all sides, he can also analyze some of the outlines of the truth from the chaotic rumors and news from all sides - at least the landing of the Great Han Shogunate is completely unstoppable, and several battles have been brought to a close conclusion, and now the Shogunate has chosen to retreat inland. From the fact that the Shimazu family can act so recklessly and the shogunate does not fight back at all, it can also be seen that the shogunate is in an embarrassing situation now.

Now, the shogunate has no way to stop either the Great Han or Shimazu, so it is obvious that its rule in Kyushu is coming to an end. So can you still stand on the side of the shogunate and make enemies of the Great Han and the Shimazu family?

As time passed, the choice became more and more urgent.

With such a small amount of military power in his own domain, the shogunate itself will definitely not be able to defeat the enemy, and even if he wants to fight for the shogunate, I am afraid that it will not help, and it will only be an egg hitting a stone.

If you want to die a glorious battle, you still have to barely survive. If it is a person, he can choose to die in honor, but he is not a person, but the head of a family and a domain, and he cannot only consider the problem from his own point of view.

It's not a hard choice to make.

But...... He didn't want to make it clear like this, he also wanted to get better conditions for himself and the Tachibana family as much as possible.

"The shogunate has been defeated in Kyushu, and the occupation of Kyushu by the Han is already an obvious fact - I don't want to deny this, your Shimazu family's bet has been on the right bet for the time being, if the shogunate can't fight back, I'm afraid Kyushu Island will become your world. But...... I am not a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death, and I will not be intimidated by obscenity. After a long silence, he finally spoke, "I did have a lot of personal grudges with the shogunate before, but Ieyasu and Hidetada also gave me a lot of favors, at least, thanks to their favors, I was able to return to the Yanagawa domain and become the lord of the domain again, and I keep this kindness in my heart." ”

"Lord, what kindness does the shogunate have to you? They just gave you back what you already had, which is not kindness! His vacillation had already been discovered by Shimazu Tadano, so he raised his voice, "They humiliate you first, and then give you a little favor, is this also a kindness?" If you are truly kind to the feudal lord, isn't it Lord Taiko? The lord of the feudal clan must remember how Lord Taiko treated you favorably back then, right? Let's see what happened to the Taiko-sama's family? Tokugawa Ieyasu groveled when Taiko-sama was alive, but when Taiko died, he changed his appearance, they bullied Hideyori Gong at a young age, took everything from the Toyotomi family, and killed Hideyotomi, so that the Toyotomi clan was wiped out...... How shameless and vicious! The Tokugawa family is a generation of jackals, what kind of kindness do they have in their hearts? Now that the feudal lord is being entrapped, he just wants to use the feudal lord, is the feudal lord safe now? Don't forget, they wanted to get rid of all the feudal domains in the world and put all the land in the name of Tokugawa! ”

"It's a pity that Lord Taiko's affairs are indeed ......," Tachibana Soshige sighed. The Tokugawa family is really hurtful in this matter......"

"Yes, the Tokugawa family just relied on force to coerce the world, so that people of insight dared to be angry and dare not speak, what kind of kindness does he have to say to the people of the world?" Shimazu Tadaneng echoed loudly, "Instead of kindness, there is hatred!" As the former ministers of Taige, we should avenge the Xiulai Gazette! ”

This is a very unreasonable statement, since the Shimazu and Tachibana families sent troops to help in the two Tokugawa shogunate's two expeditions to Osaka, and although this was a last resort, and it was only a symbolic sending of troops, at least they were not qualified to speak out as loyal Toyotomi - but they did just that.

"I want to ask, what kind of conditions did the big man give you Shimazu family?" Tachibana asked again.

This question made Shimazu Tadano, who had always been impassioned, stumped, and he hesitated for a while.

The condition that Dahan agreed was to give the entire island of Kyushu to the Shimazu family, but now that the Tachibana family was also in Kyushu, it meant that the territory of the Tachibana family would become owned by the Shimazu family after the war - he didn't dare to say it now.

He glanced slightly at Zhou Pu next to him, as if asking how to reply.

However, Zhou Pu only smiled slightly, and then raised his head to look at Tachibana Zongmao.

"If the Great Han wins after the war, the entire island of Kyushu will be presented to the Shimazu clan, and they will be rewarded for their first merit in following our Great Han."

No one paid attention to his identity, but was frightened by the words.

"What!" Not only was there a commotion next to him, but even Tachibana Somao was shocked, and he slapped the couch in front of him heavily. "Is there still a place for our Tachibana family! You guys...... You're still here to recruit us? It's not too much of a deception! We, the Tachibana clan, would rather die in battle than endure humiliation as a retainer of the Shimazu family! ”