As Naito had predicted, after the Han bombarded the city walls with cannons and launched a general attack, the resistance of the Kurume Castle was quickly broken down by the charge of the Han army, and after the fall of the outer castle, the resistance of the castle tower did not last long, and was quickly broken by the Han army.

Soon, under Zhao Song's orders, the armies of the other feudal domains were also thrown into the battlefield and rushed into Kurume Castle. These feudal armies had been watching the battle next to the Han army before, and after the Han began their devastating bombardment of Kurume Castle, they were already frightened, and how could they dare to disobey after hearing Zhao Song's order?

In the middle of the siege, Zhao Song still stayed outside the city, waiting for the good news from the city, and he was not disappointed, in the afternoon of the same day, the entire Kurume Castle was captured by the Han army and the feudal army, part of the defenders in the city were wiped out by the Han army, and the rest of the people chose to surrender in fear, Naito Tadashige originally expected to hold on for a few days, and the shogun's wish to delay a few more days was once again disappointed.

"The lord of the Arima clan, Arima Tadashige, was killed by the shogunate elder Naito Tadashige in the castle tower, and Naito Tadashige committed suicide by disembowelment before we broke the castle, and Kuroda Tadayuki, the lord of the Fukuoka domain, led his troops to surrender to us." After the end of the war, Li Huanghe, a regiment accepted by Zhao Song, came to Zhao Song's account, and reported what happened in the city to Zhao Song, "There are many people in the Arima family who have also committed suicide, but there are still some people who have fallen into our hands, may I ask Zhao Shuai, how should they deal with it?" ”

"Why was Tadashi Arima killed by Tadashige Naito?" Zhao Song felt a little strange.

“…… Arima Tadadayi wanted to surrender to our Dahan before, but because they had been listed as an enemy to be eliminated by Dahan, they were sternly rejected by us, and I'm afraid Naito Tadashige also knew something about it, so he wanted to kill this traitor before the castle was broken. After Li Huanghe hesitated for a moment, he still reported truthfully, "That's why he didn't commit suicide at the head of the city when the city was broken, but went back and killed Arima Tadalai first." ”

In order to thank Li Huanghe for his obedience and cooperation after landing, so Zhao Song deliberately handed over the battlefield command of the siege of Kurume and the subsequent general attack to Li Huanghe, after the siege of the Han army, the Arima family was already frightened, and wanted to protect themselves, but they were afraid of the shogunate army brought by Naito Tadashige, so they did not dare to talk about surrender openly, but secretly sent people over to negotiate surrender.

After receiving the report from his subordinates, Li Huanghe ordered the refusal of the surrender of the Arima family without any consideration.

First, the Great Han has issued a letter in various parts of Kyushu, and the "Kyushu Reward and Punishment Order" has made it very clear that those who oppose the Great Han Tianwei will definitely die, and the Arima family is now the last resistance force in Kyushu, and the Great Han needs to make an example in front of the feudal lords of all parts of Kyushu and set an example.

Second, this is also out of personal consideration - Li Huanghe regarded this siege as his last and best opportunity to make meritorious contributions in the first battle of the Han Dynasty, in his opinion, capturing this city and making great achievements is a sure thing, if he accepts the surrender of the Arima family, this kind of victory and merit will be a little discolored.

That's right, although he is stable on the surface and willing to think about his boss, but Li Huanghe is still a young man after all, and he still has a sense of competition.

"This Naito is Tadashi, but he has some ability...... At least it's a hard bone, bury him thickly, our Han is at war with Japan, but since he is dead, there is no need to humiliate him. "Zhao Song understands some of Li Huanghe's thoughts, but he doesn't plan to break it, in his opinion, as long as his subordinates can complete the tasks assigned by him, it is a good thing to have a competitive mind in secret." As for those people in the Arima family, you can screen them, if they are adults and are close by blood, then they will be killed, and if they are minors or have a remote bloodline, then stay. ”

Then, he thought of another person, "By the way, that Fukuoka Domain lord Kuroda Tadayuki, although he surrendered to us, but since we said in the text before that we would deal with him, then he can't stay, let's kill him." As for the soldiers who surrendered to us, they were all scattered and put into labor camps, and now we are short of manpower and need them. ”

"Yes!" Li Huanghe didn't say anything, and retreated.

"Now Kyushu is all under the control of our Han Dynasty......" Yan Guang, the senator who had been silent next to him, suddenly laughed and congratulated Zhao Song, "Zhao Shuai, in just ten days, we have achieved such martial arts, which is rare when my Han Dynasty was founded." ”

"Senator Yan usually doesn't smile, but today he is complimenting people, which is unusual." Zhao Song also laughed, "However, if you praise me like this, I'm afraid you're also praising yourself, right?" ”

To say proud, Zhao Song is indeed a little proud.

As Yan Guang said, after the Han began to conquer Japan, in just a dozen days, the entire Kyushu Island had almost fallen into the hands of the Han, and the Han army did not pay many casualties, and the feudal lords of Kyushu could be said to have surrendered to the wind - this brilliant victory had already exceeded the expectations of him and the senators when they made the plan before.

These feudal lords, who used to be powerful and prosperous in the domain, were like a soil emperor, but now their lives are hanging in their own hands, and life and death are only in their own thoughts.

How can this not be a little complacent?

However, Zhao Song also knew that the capture of Kyushu was only the first step, and there were bigger challenges waiting for him next, and now was not the time to be complacent.

"I'm just talking about the facts, our victory is here, are you afraid that someone will question it?" Yan Guang didn't pretend to be modest, "As long as we continue to fight like this next, the reward after the war will never be small, but the Son of Heaven has been watching us......"

At this moment, Zhou Pu, an envoy sent by the Son of Heaven of the Han Dynasty, suddenly broke into the tent.

"Lord Zhou? Did something happen? Seeing that Zhou Pu's expression was a little strange, Zhao Song hurriedly interrupted the conversation with Yan Guang.

"General Zhao, something big is indeed happening...... Zhou Pu's face was a little solemn, "Just now a few feudal lords who have attached to us came to report to me, saying that there are Catholic people in their domain who are in rebellion, because the remaining feudal soldiers are weak, and most of them have followed the general to participate in the battle, and they have no time to take care of it, and now they can't be suppressed, and several feudal domains have fallen into chaos, so ...... They want to ask our Han army to help suppress it. ”

"What? Can't hold it down? Aren't they just some farmers? These feudal soldiers can't even hold down some peasants, what a waste! Yan Guang was anxious and angry, "Are they the two ends of the first rat or what do they mean?" ”

"I'm afraid it's not the two ends of the first rat ......" Zhou Pu laughed slightly mockingly, "Senator Yan, now that our Han army has fought with the feudal soldiers a few times, haven't you seen what kind of virtue these local feudal soldiers are?" They are not much better than the peasants, let alone ...... What's more, now they have been broken by our army......"

Kyushu Island had always been in trade with the Spaniards and Portuguese, so there were many missionaries, most of whom had a high religious zeal and relied on medicine and weapons to open the way, and they soon spread among some feudal domains, and during the Sengoku period, not only many lower class people believed in Catholicism, but even some feudal lords and samurai began to believe in Catholicism.

This situation was of course wary of the Shogunate, which claimed to be the protector of Japan, and after the Tokugawa Shogunate pacified Japan, it issued several fatwa decrees calling for a strict ban on the spread of Catholicism and the protection of the purity of the faith in the 'Kingdom of God'.

Under the frenzy set off by the Tokugawa shogunate, many parishioners and clergy were severely persecuted, either proselytizing or losing their lives, while many parishioners chose to endure and lurk for the time being.

After the Han Dynasty came over this time, it caused serious losses and shocks to the shogunate and many feudal domains, and the old social structure was at risk of disintegrating, so many parishioners saw hope in this, and they immediately rose up to make rebellion, hoping to turn these feudal domains into the world of the parishioners.

"That can't tell us to put down the chaos, right? Did our Han army come here to help them do this? After listening to Zhou Pu's explanation, Yan Guang was still not angry, "Our Han army has a strict plan and timetable, Kyushu is so big, if one place helps them calm the chaos, God knows how much time will be wasted!" We don't have so much time to waste right now, let them go to the level themselves! ”

"Senator Yan, don't be in a hurry......" Looking at Zhou Pu's expression, Zhao Song felt that the envoy still had something to say, so he stopped Yan Guang, "Lord Zhou, I'm afraid I have a plan in my heart, right?" ”

Zhou Pu is an envoy personally elected by the Son of Heaven, and he has made a lot of meritorious contributions to the Han Dynasty in these days, and he will definitely be reused by the Son of Heaven in the future, so Zhao Song does not intend to anger the other party lightly.

"Senator Yan is right, we didn't call here to help these feudal lords quell the chaos, but if we completely leave it alone, it's not good...... After all, whether Kyushu can stabilize or not is also a matter of great importance to us. Zhou Pu really expressed a different opinion, "In addition, as far as I am concerned, if we can send troops to help these feudal lords who are trapped by the chaotic people, not only will we be more grateful and serve the feudal lords, but it will also be beneficial to us in other places......

"What do you mean by Lord Zhou?" Zhao Song was a little impatient, "Senator Yan and I are both leading soldiers, and our brains are not so active, just tell us directly." ”

"The Catholics are in turmoil, and they can give us another excuse." Zhou Pu pretended not to hear the other party's dissatisfaction, and replied with a smile, "If it weren't for the shogunate's ineffective suppression, how could there still be so many disgruntled parishioners left in Kyushu?" It can be seen that the shogunate did not spare no effort to preserve the original religious beliefs of Japan, as it boasted......"

After looking at the two of them and finding that they were still ignorant, Zhou Pu felt proud, "So we can stand up, suppress these sectarians, and dress us up as defenders of Buddhism." After the occupation of Kyushu, we will certainly issue a letter to the daimyo of Honshu and Shikoku, and the shogunate will be charged with failing to suppress the religious people and corrupting the faith in Japan. ”

In other words, to the shogunate's crimes, there is another article to suppress the ineffective repression of the people? So that it looks like we're here to help suppress the parishioners? Yan Guang finally understood what Zhou Pu meant, but he was still a little strange, "But how useful is this?" ”

"It's not much use to just say a few words, but we can take this opportunity to criticize the shogunate for oppressing Buddhists and corrupting the country's faith, which gives Catholics the opportunity to sit on the throne." Zhou Pu continued, "Then, we can take the opportunity to win over the forces of the monasteries and temples who are dissatisfied with the shogunate, and let them follow us. ”

Since the Heian period in ancient times, Japanese monasteries have always had a strong influence, and Buddhism has been very popular and favored by the aristocracy since it was introduced to Japan, and soon became the mainstream religion in Japan. The nobles, both in power and after their deaths, gave a great deal of wealth to the monastery, and the monastery thus held a great deal of wealth.

After gaining wealth, these monasteries began to annex land, taking advantage of the convenience of not paying taxes and their political superiority, and eventually became large landowners with monasteries as the core. At the end of the Heian period, after the Tsunatsumi began to be in turmoil, these monastic landlords began to organize monks to defend themselves and compete for profits.

Because of the brainwashing of religious beliefs, most of the monks and soldiers were not afraid of death, and there was a lot of wealth, so some monks and temples became powerful military groups, and at the end of the Heian period, Kofuku-ji Temple, Enryaku-ji Temple, Todai-ji Temple and other monasteries became such a military group, compared with ordinary warlords.

In the Warring States Period, when the world was even more chaotic, social contradictions became more intensified, and the power of monks and monasteries was also greatly expanded. The Ichijo sect forces, with Honganji as the core, sought to establish a ******** 'Buddha country' by inciting believers to riot. After launching a number of riots, the Ichōjong sect became the largest temple and community power, ruling over large areas of land.

The expansion of the power of the temples and shrines soon aroused the jealousy of the strongmen in the secular world, and Oda Nobunaga, a strongman who rose to prominence in the Warring States period, began to seek to limit the power of these temples and deprive them of their armed forces, and soon came into armed conflict with the Ichijo sect.

In the Battle of Ishiyama, Honganji and his allies Asakura fought a decisive battle with Oda Nobunaga, but were defeated by Oda Nobunaga, and the Ichijo sect was also dealt a great blow, and the riots in various places came to an abrupt end.

Under Oda Nobunaga's ambitions, other temples and shrines suffered the same blow, among which Enryakuji Temple, which had a long history, possessed great wealth, and had a high status in Buddhism, became the main target of his attack because of his repeated disobedience to his orders.

He ordered his troops to go to Mt. Hiei, the main mountain of Enryakuji Temple, and declared that he would raze this sacred religious mountain to the ground.

Under his orders, his men blocked all access to the mountain, and then set fire to Enryakuji Temple and began a brutal siege and annihilation of Enryakuji Temple. It is rumored that all of the 21 shrines of Sanno, the main central hall of Honganji, were burned down, and about 3,000 or 4,000 people, including monks and believers, were slaughtered.

As a result of the burning of Mt. Hiei, Nobunaga's actions were resented by many temples and shrines, and he was given the title of "Demon King of the Sixth Heaven". Legend has it that Oda Nobunaga did these crazy things because he believed in the Western religions that came from the Nanban, although Nobunaga didn't actually do it because of his religious beliefs.

After the death of Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and later Tokugawa Ieyasu ruled Japan, and their approach to the power of the temple shrine was less radical, but secretly it was still mainly restrictive.

After three generations of blows, the power of the temple began to disappear, and most of the land and wealth of the temple fell into the hands of the shogunate and the feudal lords in various places. Honganji, with the support of Tokugawa Ieyasu, had a great schism and could no longer pose a threat to the rule of the shogunate.

It can also be expected from this that the original temple and shrine forces were also very dissatisfied with the shogunate. If the Great Han made a plan to eliminate the foreign religion, help Japan restore the purity of the faith, and promised to restore the original wealth and status of the temples and shrines, these temples and shrines should have their hearts set on the Great Han.

After listening to Zhou Pu's explanation, Zhao Song and Yan Guang fell into deep thought, and obviously began to move.

"Haven't these temples been badly hit? And what strength does he have to sustain us? After a moment, Zhao Song questioned.

"The hundred-legged insect dies but does not stiffen, although the temple is not as good as before, but after all, the belief has been passed down for thousands of years, and they have a great right to speak, and they are especially respected among the lower classes." Zhou Pu immediately replied, "When we invade Japan from the outside, the most taboo thing is to make the Japanese people tidy, so it is the best policy to win over the temple and make the people of the shogunate unstable." We suppressed the Catholics, and then declared that we wanted to restore the status of the temple, and the temple community would surely be very happy. ”

After a pause, he continued, "Other...... For our post-war arrangements, the more dispersed Japan's forces are, the easier it will be for us to control......"

Zhao Song and Yan Guang glanced at each other, and they finally felt that what Zhou Pu said was very reasonable.

"It's a feasible idea." Zhao Song said in a low voice, "Now anyway, our army has to be repaired, and we can continue large-scale operations only after the port of Nagasaki is almost repaired, so we can send some troops to assist the feudal lords in various places to suppress the Catholics, and we can spare time." ”

"Acting has to be a full set, and since the two of you have decided to assist in the suppression, then I can't be idle." Seeing that they agreed to their proposal, Zhou Pu was also overjoyed, "I'll also meet with monks and monasteries all over Kyushu Island this time, and let them know the sincerity of our big man." The Demon King and the Shogunate are their enemies, and we are their friends. ”

After destroying so many hostile feudal lords, Kyushu now has a lot of borderless land, although the Great Han promised to give the entire island of Kyushu to Shimazu Tadashi, but to send a little land to the various monasteries, presumably the Shimazu family can't say anything.