Chapter 152: Former General

"Hizen, Higo, Bunzen, and Bungo Daimyo replied to the letter, and they didn't dare to be arrogant without the shogunate's edict..."

Inoue took the reply and read it in front of Shimazu Tadashi.

Shimazu Tadashi was completely chilled at this time, so it seems that the shogunate's defense of their Satsuma Domain has reached the point of madness: "The Ming people helped their sworn enemies to come ashore, it's ridiculous... Ridiculous..."

"Your Majesty is still thinking about whether Lord Hideyori will have a grudge against the lord."

Inoue Qianxin is still more thoughtful.

"In the Battle of Sekigahara, my father and I led an army of 1,500 people to join the Western Army, and if it wasn't for Ankokuji Huiqiong who persuaded my father, my Satsuma Domain might actually join the Eastern Army array."

Inoue Qianxin suddenly remembered something, so he asked: "Lord, the minister dared to ask, but the lord communicated with Wakisaka Yasuji back then?" ”

"What about that?" Shimazu Tadashi looked disdainful: "He is the adopted son of His Excellency Guan Bai, and the night defense when Guan Bai was reincarnated was handed over to him. ”

Inoue Qianxin nodded: "In this way, the lord did not communicate with him back then. ”

"Osaka has two battles in winter and summer, and I don't help as a courtier... Guilty, but the land of Kyushu is full of foreign enemies, and if I send troops, the whole Kagoshima domain will not be protected..."

Shimazu Tadashi sighed: "Now that the Ming army's artillery and large army are coming to the city, there are no reinforcements, my Satsuma Domain is already an abandoned son of the shogunate, and there is no choice but to surrender, but General Hideyori must have hated me for not saving Osaka back then," Shimazu Tadashi said and lowered his head: "In order to protect my Satsuma Domain, I am ready to give way to Tadahiro, and then apologize." ”

Inoue Qianxin was shocked, and hurriedly stopped: "The lord must not, if you do this, my Satsuma Domain will really not be able to keep it." ”

Shimazu Tadashi raised his eyebrows and looked at him: "What's the explanation?" ”

Inoue Senshin took a deep breath and said: "My lord, if you apologize and die, the Toyotomi clan will definitely encroach on my Satsuma domain, and Kagoshima will no longer be owned by the Shimazu family, and the shogunate is afraid of my Satsuma, that is also because I Satsuma is the border of the south, relying on the sea to be powerful, and the whole domain is strong, if the lord is here, the Toyotomi family will definitely appreciate the righteousness of the lord, even if you have some mind, but in front of the overall situation, you are also one of the elders of the year." ”

Shimazu Tadashi thought about it and felt quite reasonable: "Now it seems that it can only be sacrificed for a long time." ”

Inoue said: "Now that Mitsuhisa-sama is a proton in the shogunate, if the lord raises the banner, it will be abandoning Mitsuhisa-sama-sama, and from the overall situation of Satsuma, I can only choose to sacrifice Mitsuhisa-sama." ”

In this era of the Wa Kingdom, it is feasible to sacrifice oneself in order to protect the overall situation, let alone a son.

What's more, Shimazu Tadashi also has a son who can fight, even if his son who was a hostage in the shogunate was killed.

"After all, what should I do with all these things happening?"

In the face of Shimazu Tadashi's inquiry, Inoue Qianxin fully demonstrated the strategy of his strategist: "In order to take into account the overall situation, the minister thought that the lord could personally go out and kneel to meet the guilty after the arrival of General Hideyori tomorrow, and I believe that in front of so many people, they will definitely not embarrass the lord." ”

Shimazu Tadashi pondered for a moment: "Okay, this is not difficult, as long as I can protect my Shimazu family, I can accept it." Are there any other arrangements? ”

Inoue Qianxin's eyes rolled around a few times, and then asked: "My lord, when the minister remembered that there were still Ukita, Mori and Maeda when he rescued Kamiraku, the Maeda clan is now an unshakable in-law in the shogunate, but the Maori clan sits on the land of Zhou Defense Nagato, and is the second person who is guarded by the shogunate besides my Satsuma, and the minister thinks that after the lord confesses his guilt, he can send someone to contact the Maori clan and ask them to follow us to support Hideyori General." ”

"Okay..."Shimazu Tadashi replied without thinking about it: "The Xiu family was the adopted son of His Excellency Guan Bai back then, and His Excellency Guan Bai was very good to the Xiu family, but now he is exiled to Hachijo Island, if he can come back, presumably there will be a lot of people in the whole of Japan who respond." ”

Inoue then said: "Tomorrow, I can also send someone to Hachijo Island to welcome back the Hide-sama, I heard that the shogunate has only arranged a small team of soldiers to guard it over there, and it is not too difficult to recapture it." ”

Shimazu Tadashi looked at the ceiling and muttered, "My father tried his best to save the life of the Xiu family, but... Hey..."

...

Chen Cao is not in a hurry, the current game is already in an end state for him, after all, even if the city is ready now, and there is even a situation of fighting to the end, but under the complete encirclement of the musket array, the people of the city want to escape, unless they really have a pair of wings.

However, for Shimazu Tadashi, the wait was the most painful, and he knelt outside the gate of the city with a group of major retainers after dawn, and there was no movement in the camp of the Ming army on the opposite side until noon.

The sky even began to fall in the afternoon, and after an hour, the snow gradually became heavier.

"If I am asked to sit on my knees like this, let alone a morning, I won't be able to hold out for half an hour, and under this heavy snowfall, I will have to amputate my leg."

Chen Cao held a bowl of hot tea, the winter country really can't stay long, especially outdoors, the snow will fall, if it was placed in the past, the land of Hokkaido would have to snow in less than October, and since he landed, it has only snowed in the cold mid-to-late December, which is also right.

"Master Hou..."

A brocade-clothed guard came quickly: "Master Qiqi, someone is here." ”

Chen Cao was a little excited, and when he thought that he could go into the city to rest and no longer need to stand in this heavy snow, he said in a loud voice: "Send someone to tell the kneeling people over there that the general of the expedition, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, has arrived, and let them prepare for it." ”

Hideyori was very excited, happy, and extremely excited, if the landing at Fangzu could only be regarded as hovering on the edge of the Wa Kingdom, arriving at the main castle of the Satsuma Domain at this moment would be as if he had been promoted to the center of power in Japan.

And beside him, riding a horse followed by a mentally healthy old man, his eyes were bright, and there was no trace of the gloom of an old man.

Chen Cao immediately waited for them in front, Xiu Lai dismounted, and personally bowed to Chen Cao: "Xie Ding Wuhou Daen..."

The old man saluted, Chen Cao nodded, and then also dismounted: "General Xiulai, please..."

When Shimazu Tadashi saw a large group of men and horses walking towards them, he lowered his body, and when Yu Guang saw the crowd arriving, he shouted loudly: "The criminal Satsuma clan guards Shimazu Tadashi, and I meet His Excellency the General..."

"Meet Your Excellency," shouted the kneeling men behind him.

Toyotomi Hideyori's body trembled, and then looked at the old man beside him: "Lord Xiujia..."

The old man is the adopted son of the predecessor Sekihaku Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the head of the five elders of Toyotomi, the Ukita Hideya...

When Shimazu Tadashi heard about the four people of the 'Xiu family', he raised his head and saw the Ukita Hideya who had interceded for him nineteen years ago: "Xiu... Xiujia... Lord Xiujia..."

Ukita Hideya had a painful expression, and after bowing to Hideyori, he stepped forward and knelt down, mixing Shimazu Tadashi: "Zhongheng people... Many years ago, the old man thanked you for the protection of the Shimazu family, so that he could survive. ”

The Ukita Hideya survived thanks to the great help of the Shimazu clan and the Maeda clan, and the shogunate also made the decision to exile the Hideya to Hachijojima because of the face of the two heavyweight daimyos, otherwise he would not have survived at all.

Shimazu Tadashi cried bitterly, and then knelt down towards Hideyori again: "The guilty minister is guilty, see Your Excellency the General again in this life, although there is no regret in death, the Shimazu clan is willing to do their best to be loyal to the Toyotomi clan..."

"Please forgive the general," shouted the retainers behind him.

Hideyori let out a sigh of relief, and then stepped forward to personally help Shimazu Tadashi and Ukita Hideya: "The two adults are the right-hand men of my father when he is reincarnated, I am the younger generation, fortunately, the great tomorrow Asagami Kuninosuke can return to Japan, although I am no longer young, but the two adults are not young people, the two adults are willing to work together to help me?" ”

The two glanced at each other and knelt down together: "The minister will never give up..."

As he spoke, the crowd hugged their heads and began to cry.

Chen Cao stood aside and couldn't help crying when he saw this scene, and felt that it was really not good to interrupt them at this moment, so he ordered: "Prepare to enter the city immediately." ”

.

In the castle tower, Hideyori sat on the main seat, and Chen Cao didn't like to sit with them, so he took his own people to sit on the side, while Shimazu Tadatsune and Ukita Hideya sat on the other side, and their main retainers sat behind them.

"This is the head of the Sanada family? Yukimura-sama? Shimazu Tadashi looked at the old man in his fifties behind him and asked.

Xiu Lai smiled and pointed: "If there is no fortunate village, you and I will never have the opportunity to meet again in this life." ”

Shimazu Tadashi bowed to Yukimura, and Yukimura also bowed in return, and the two knew each other.

"Zhongheng people, is the Hirano family okay? If they hadn't taken them in, the old man really had nowhere to go. Ukita Hideya asked.

"For so many years, Osumi Province has always been in the hands of my son Tadaro," he said, looking at Shimazu Tadaro behind him: "Tomorrow I will send someone to Hinata Osumi to announce that His Excellency the General has returned, change back the flag, and then notify the people of the Hirano family to come and meet Lord Hide." ”

"Yes..."

As soon as Chen Cao entered the door, he and his subordinates ate non-stop, and the sashimi fillets and sushi made by the rich people tasted good.

Xiu Lai didn't dare to snub Chen Cao, so he spoke: "Dingwu Hou is still used to eating here?" ”

Chen Cao ate the last piece of sashimi in front of him, and then drank a glass of hot wine before he was comfortable: "Habit, I used to eat it often, but it is not as authentic as here." ”

Because of Chen Cao's previous identity, he couldn't go abroad, and he couldn't eat authentic sushi fish flakes in Japan.

"Often?" Xiujia asked again: "Jinling has these?" ”

Only then did Chen Cao react: "Ahem, yes, it's not authentic..."

Bypassing the topic, Chen Cao stood up and said, "Everyone, my Emperor Ming has a holy decree promulgated, take it." ”