Regarding the fact that the letter sent by Masashi did not attract the attention of Nizi Qingjiu, and even caused a reaction, Masashi naturally did not know the way. And what was the Maori Yuan mentioned in his letter doing at this time?

Speaking of which, this time Maori Yuan is really smart enough. After seeing the strange behavior of Yoshitaka Ouchi and Takatoyo Cold Spring at the banquet, he left the Ouchi Pavilion in a hurry. Why is the Maori dollar in such a hurry? Because he is cunning and cunning, he has long guessed from the various actions of the Ouchi family during this period of time that there will be changes in the Ouchi family. And for the sake of safety, he has long ordered someone to set up a secret base near the Ouchi Pavilion, and once the Ouchi family really changes, then he will quickly run to the secret base to take refuge.

Just as Mori had predicted, shortly after arriving at the secret stronghold, he received news that Tao Longfang had raised an army to rebel and that the rebels were coming to Ouchikan. Later, he received the news that Ouchi Yoshitaka had raised more than 10,000 troops to meet the rebels of Tao Longfang.

Just as Ouchi Yoshitaka had expected, Mori Moto also thought that Ouchi Yoshitaka could extinguish the rebels of Tao Longfang with the forces in his hands, so he missed the best opportunity to escape, until the news that Ouchi Yoshitaka's army was defeated and Ouchi Yoshitaka led everyone to flee from Ouchi, Mori Moto realized the seriousness of the problem, so he immediately decided to escape back to An Yiguo's own territory from a remote path that had been selected before. Anyway, even Yoshitaka Ouchi's own escaped, so even if Yoshitaka Ouchi would return to Ouchi Hall unharmed after the worst event, he would not be held accountable for leaving Ouchi Hall without permission.

It's just that no matter how cunning Maori Yuan is, he can't imagine it. It turned out that he was riding back to An Yifei from the trail. I met a team of bandits who took advantage of the chaos around the Ouchi Pavilion and came out to fight the autumn wind. I saw that Maori Yuan looked like a group of fat sheep. This group of bandits, who had eaten wild vegetables in the mountains for a long time, had already turned red-eyed, and chased after Mao Li Yuan with shouts.

When there were only five or six people on his side and hundreds of people on the other side, the four loyal retainers volunteered to stay behind the palace, and then gave up the only war horse to Mao Li Yuan and another retainer.

Seeing that these four retainers had left behind for the sake of righteousness, Morimoto immediately left a few lines of old tears crackling, and he remembered the scene when he was chased and killed by the army of the Niko family after the fiasco of Izumo Province. It's just that he didn't expect that after a few years, he encountered the same scene again.

At the end, when the bandits behind him were constantly approaching, Mao Liyuan waved his old hand and said silently in his heart, "Everyone, stay with confidence." I will take care of your little family. Then he fled on his horse without looking back. After finally escaping from the range of the bandits' pursuit, it is estimated that there are two people riding on the war horse at the same time, and Fang Cai is also desperately driven to run with all his might, so when he passes a slope. The war horse actually lost its front hooves and fell directly down the hillside.

Poor Maori Yuan. Although his life was saved, he became lame in his left leg and had to walk like Kansuke Yamamoto. The only difference with Kansuke Yamamoto is that Mori Moto walks with a wooden cane, while Kansuke Yamamoto walks with him on the scabbard he carries with him as a crutch.

Looking back, it seems that the Maori family was really unlucky after meeting the Luo family, at least now there are two people in the Maori family who have been directly or indirectly crippled by the Luo family. One is Yoshikawa Motoharu, who lost his left arm after being assassinated by Kato Danzo, and now he has added Mori Motosa. If it weren't for a series of rumors about the Luo family, Mao Liyuan would not have stayed in the Great Inner Pavilion as a hostage at all, and naturally he would not have encountered Tao Longfang's rebellion and being chased by bandits, and his left leg would naturally not be lame. With the help of another retainer, Mao Li Yuan finally returned to An Yi Country and recuperated behind closed doors.

On this day, Mao Li Yuan, who had basically recuperated, called his sister-in-law Mao Li Long Yuan to him, and then asked:

"Now that Ouchisuke has been killed by Tao Longfang, what do you think the family should do now?"

Mori Takamoto's main room,It's the adopted daughter of Yoshitaka Ouchi.,The real daughter of the late Nagato guardian generation Naito.,And when Mori Takagen was a hostage in the Yamaguchi Ouchi Pavilion.,He also has a deep friendship with Tao Longfang、Jiang Liang Fang Rong、Hongzhong Takabao and other young talents.,It's a "big uchichi", Mori Yuan is asking him for advice now, just to see Mori Takamoto's analysis of the current situation.

The son-in-law, Mao Li Longyuan, thought for a while and replied: "My father-in-law was killed by Tao Longfang, and my family can destroy the Tao family in the name of avenging my father-in-law." ”

But the scheming Mao Liyuan laughed in a low voice after hearing this, and then said: "The flag is always the flag, and the family can use it whenever you want, but can the current strength of the family compete with Tao Longfang?" ”

Asked by his father, Maori Longyuan immediately bowed his head and was silent, although his father-in-law's family suffered from civil strife, but after all, the foundation accumulated over hundreds of years is still there, Tao Longfang just mobilized the military strength of Zhou Fangguo in the territory where the Tao family is located, there are at least 20,000 people, far from the mobilization power of the thousands of Anyun Maori family can match. Thinking of this, Mao Li Longyuan, who had originally planned to suggest to his father to take the opportunity to attack Zhou Fangguo, immediately became discouraged.

Seeing the unconfident look on his son-in-law's face, Mao Liyuan patted him on the shoulder and comforted: "The confrontation of military strength is like the two poles of yin and yang, that is, the prosperity of the pole must decline, and the key to the relationship between one and the other is the grasp of the generals." With Tao Longfang's current strength, although the family can't swallow him in one bite, it can be done slowly. ”

In fact, at this time, Maoli Yuan already had a rapid expansion plan in mind.

According to the plan, he would send an envoy to Tao Longfang, and he concluded a friendly and mutual assistance relationship with Tao Longfang. even took the opportunity to praise Tao Longfang's move this time, saying that Tao Longfang's move is conducive to the prosperity of the Ouchi family. In short, it is to use the sugar-coated cannonball of words to confuse Tao Longfang. With Tao Longfang only thirty years old at this time, and he really launched a rebellion with the determination of a strong inner family, it would naturally be very useful.

Confusing Tao Longfang, so that Tao Longfang's energy is focused on excluding dissidents. When unifying the power of the Zhou Defense Kingdom, the Nagato Province, and even the Iwami Kingdom. Maori Yuan will be an ally of the Tao Long Fang. Taking advantage of the opportunity to wantonly annex the Yasuki Province and the power of Yoshitaka Ouchi, he first wanted to eliminate the powerful countryman Hiraga Takaho, and then capture Sakura Castle and Sato Ginzan Castle one by one.

Sakura Castle of Azumi Province is "a dagger that Anki Province stretched out to Itsukushima, which can be used to stab enemies, and can also be used by enemies to stab oneself in the abdomen." "This castle is very close to Itsukushima on the sea, so it can be said that you want to take Itsukushima. It is necessary to occupy Sakurao Castle as a base for advancement.

Zuodong Yinshan City is located at the key point at the junction of Zhou Fangguo and An Yun Kingdom, if Mao Li Yuan can occupy this place, he can block the power of Tao Longfang from the gate of An Yun Kingdom.

While gradually completing the unification of Aki Province, Mori Moto also planned to gradually control the power of the Ouchi family, such as Bigo Province, Bichugoku Province, and Misasaka Province, and subjugate the people of these regions under the umbrella of their power.

Of course, since some areas are bordered by the power of the Niko family, in order not to entangle with the Niko family too much during this period, when necessary, Mori Yuan will also pretend to be a grandson and cede his power back to the Niko family from areas such as Misakukoku that are far away from the core area of power. So as to achieve the purpose of confusing the Nizi family.

If the political conscience is clear, Mao Li Yuan is thinking in his heart at this time, he will definitely scold Mao Li Yuan for being shameless. In particular, the Mori Moto's invasion of Sakurao Castle and later Itsukushima Island. In the eyes of Zhengliang, it is simply the most shameless trap. And this trap was laid out by Mao Liyuan years before the duel with Tao Longfang.

For the First Battle of Itsukushima, Masashi has done an analysis.

As Mao Li Yuan said to Mao Li Longyuan, the biggest mystery of the battle against the army is how to offset the advantages of the enemy army and then carry forward the advantages of his own army. After careful consideration, Maori Yuan believed that the Maori army was head-to-head with Tao Longfang, the "unparalleled general of the Western Kingdom", on land, and if it was calculated according to the current situation of the two families, because the difference in the number of troops that could be mobilized in their respective territories was too great, the chances of victory were slim.

So, can you lure the numerically superior Tao army to a narrow place, make his advantage a disadvantage, and then use a small number of elite soldiers to gather and annihilate it in one go? Mao Liyuan had considered many locations when he was recuperating before, but he gave up, for no other reason, his own soldiers were too few, he couldn't encircle the Tao army, and he couldn't annihilate it if he was encircled, even if he caught 20,000 pigs, it wasn't two or three days to catch them, not to mention that Tao Longfang was not a pig at all. After the failure of the Ouchi Yoshitaka expedition to Izumo, Tao Longfang was responsible for distributing all the dry food to his subordinates behind the land hall, but he used "dried catfish" (that is, dried sardines) to satisfy his hunger, Tao Jun was greatly moved, and he broke through the layers of interception and returned to Zhoufang. Fighting a commander like Tao Longfang, can you expect him to abandon his army and collapse himself? Apparently impossible.

Then, it is the best choice to abandon the idea of a decisive battle on land and lure the Tao army to the island: first, the island terrain is rugged and narrow, and it is suitable for the Maori Yuan to use a small and broad battle plan; Second, there is a sea around the island, and it is easy for tens of thousands of people to board it, but if you want to retreat, it is not so simple, and it is also in line with the idea of fighting a war of annihilation in Maori Yuan.

But the second layer of problems also came out, Tao Longfang is not stupid, Maori Yuan can't learn from Miyamoto Musashi decades later, write a challenge book, "Sasaki Kojiro, let's duel on Yanliu Island, see you or disperse", and then Kojiro carried a knife, and the two fought to the death at the place where they had an appointment.

The so-called soldiers, sophistication, what to fight according to the routine, most of them are the romance in the book, and they can't be really. Therefore, the second problem faced by Mao Liyuan was how to hold Tao Longfang's nose and let him obediently come to the location he chose to accept the slaughter.

So Maori Yuan set his sights on Itsukushima after the most disappointment, because although this island is small, it is a territory that Taolongfang must not lose, as long as it's moved Itsukushima, and even shows a little ambition for Itsukushima, it will make Taolongfang angry, "gladly" go here to fight with Maori's family.

If nothing else, Itsukushima is too important to the Tao Takabo, or to the entire Ouchi family! What has the Ouchi family relied on to prosper for so many years? It was the maritime trade with the Ming Kingdom, Joseon, Ryukyu, etc., and his family used the Yamaguchi Ouchi Pavilion and Hakata Port as a transit base, and transported the knives, fans, and pottery of the Wa Kingdom out of the country, and then poured the silk, books, and porcelain from the mainland into it, and turned around to make ten or even hundreds of times the profits, otherwise how could the Yamaguchi Ouchi Museum absorb so many ministers and monks to come here? How can you have the money to build palaces and temples? And where do you have the financial resources to support the expensive singing parties, tea ceremonies, and Noh music? In addition, don't forget, even if the Ouchi family buys the in-demand items from the mainland, it will stay in the warehouse of the Yamaguchi Ouchi Pavilion, and it still needs to transfer these things to the interior of the Wa country in order to make more money!

How to transport it in? Nerds know the way, take the key waterway that connects the western province of Wakoku, Shikoku and Honshu, the Seto Inland Sea! From the Kanmon Strait to the trading capital of Settsu Izumi, this route through the Seto Inland Sea is the lifeblood of the Ouchi family.

If the Seto Inland Sea is the blood vessel that sustains the Ouchi family, then Itsukushima, which is located in the middle, is the prostate that determines whether this blood vessel is unblocked. In this case, the capture of Sakurao Castle by Mori Moto and the eyeing of Itsukushima are fatal to the Tao Takabo, which aims to restore the authority of the Ouchi family!

Moreover, for Tao Longfang, Itsukushima is no longer indisputable, but it cannot be discarded at all, because this is the most valuable legacy of his dead lord, Yoshitaka Ouchi.

This is because there is a huge shrine on the island, so this place has been called "Divine Domain" since ancient times (including not only Itsukushima, but also some parts of the southern part of the Aki Kingdom), and the owner of the ancient Divine Domain is the Saeki family, an ancient sacrificial nobleman, who is not only the "national creation" of the Aki Kingdom (the official name of the ancient Japanese Imperial Dynasty, serving as the chief of military and political worship in a place), but also the "god lord" of the shrine. When Taira Kiyomori was in power, the god lord Saeki Keihiro eagerly knotted Taira Kiyomori, and received strong support from the Taira family, creating the heyday of the Itsukushima god family, but the good times did not last long, and the Taira family perished after the Genpei War, Saeki Keihiro was very afraid that the Genji family would settle accounts after the autumn, and a hot-headed man stood on the opposite side of the Kamakura shogunate in the subsequent "Shokushi Rebellion", and was really liquidated after the war.

The Kamakura shogunate drove the Saeki family out of Itsukushima and sent a "royal family" named Fujiwara Kitomi to be the god lord to strengthen the shogunate's control over Itsukushima Shrine. Immediately after Fujiwara Kitomi arrived on the island, he merged the samurai's "general office" with the shrine office, and recruited the indigenous nobles of Itsukushima into the army, establishing a theocratic and theocratic Snail Horn regime called "Kamiryo" (similar to Shinano Suwa's Shinto). With the advent of the Warring States Period, the Fujiwara family, the god lord, was constantly infighting, and was successively coveted by the Kobayakawa family and the Takeda family of Yazuki Province, and struggled in the troubled times. In the tenth year of astronomy (1541), taking advantage of the civil strife in the family of the god lord Itsukushima, Yoshitaka Ouchi sent a group of men and horses to easily wipe out the poor god lord family (the last god lord Tomoda Xingto ran to Sakurao Castle to commit suicide), so that the Itsukushima god led to the Ouchi family.

In this Warring States Period, the conquest of new territories is not the biggest problem, the difficulty is how to manage and digest the new territories, Ouchi Yoshitaka thought of a way in order to completely control Itsukushima: among his family's important ministers "Appraisal Public", there is a man named Sugi Takashi, who seems to be a descendant of the ancient god lord Saeki's family, Ouchi Yoshitaka arranged for Sugi Takashi to marry the daughter of the god lord's fellow clan Kokata Kaga Mamoru, changed his name to Saeki Jingjiao, and succeeded to the position of "Itsukushima Priest". But Sugitaka Shin lives in the Yamaguchi Ouchi Pavilion on weekdays, and he doesn't have time to go to Itsukushima, and Ouchi Yoshitaka announced an order that all the "god leaders" on the island are "Andu" (Andu, that is, the samurai's territory remains the same), as long as they nominally submit to my Ouchi family, and then let their own clan, the Washitou family, become the governor of Sakura Castle, responsible for commanding the gods of Itsukushima.

However, in history, in the three years after the Daningji Incident, Tao Longfang was first busy settling the internal order, and then entangled with Iwami's Yoshimi Masayori, and missed the opportunity in vain, watching the Mori family of Yasuki Province become stronger and stronger. It wasn't until he turned his face with Maori Yuan that Tao Longfang discovered that An Yunguo Maori had built many strongholds around Itsukushima, surrounding the island to the ground, and as long as Maori Yuan exerted a little force, he could cut off the lifeline of the Ouchi family. This is what Tao Longfang fears the most. In order to save this predicament, he had only one choice: organize a large army, go to Itsukushima by sea, and fight a decisive battle with Maori Yuan. (To be continued......)