Sayuri led everyone to the second floor, and walked along the corridor to the largest hall, which is 5 rooms wide and more than 2 zhang deep, even if it is a banquet for 100 people, it is not a problem. There is an ancient wooden plaque hanging at the door, and there are three big characters on it: Longwang Xuan. On the doorposts on both sides are engraved a couplet: righteous air is dry in the sky, near the white clouds open and dew; majestic voice walks the sea, far away with bare hands to hold the torrent.

Chongwen shook his head and smiled bitterly, he didn't have such a reputation when he was the emperor, but he didn't expect to be mixed in the pirate's den, but he was so touted, it was too much. These businessmen, once they have a request from others, can really do anything.

Everyone sat down, Sayuri beckoned the maid to serve the hot hand towel to clean their hands, served tea and fruits, and the guests chatted casually. Chongwen didn't talk nonsense, and asked directly: "Can anyone tell me about Dazaifu in Kyushu, how is it to join the mother?"

Koo-tailed Hayashi Kuni-ken said: "Bad news has come from Matsuura Uno Kitchen and Dazaifu, the shogunate has sent an edict to Kyushu to explore the house, it seems that the shogunate is about to take action against Matsuura Prefecture, once the Matsuura Peninsula falls, Hirado will definitely not be protected." ”

Chongwen frowned and asked, "I also guessed these, how is the Shibukawa Manyori probe arranged?"

Lin Guoxian ordered his entourage to fetch a map, which was a map of Kyushu and the nearby seas, Lin Guoxian pointed to the map and said: "It seems that the shogunate army is going to advance by land and water, besieging Upper and Lower Matsuura County, of which there are three roads on land and two roads on the sea.

The eastern route roughly starts from Dazaifu and includes 300 people from the Ouchi clan, 600 people from Akizuki Nakado in Chikuzen Province, 800 people from Kamaike Takehisa from Chikugo Province, and 400 people from Hoshino Ieno, for a total of 2,100 people. They attacked west along the north coast of Kyushu, and about 160 miles to the old nest of the Matsuura Party, Uno Kitchen.

The Southern Route Army is the Ryuzoji clan of Saga, and it only takes 80 miles to come to Uno Kitchen. The strength of this division was about 1,800 men, and they were opposite the Imari clan of the Matsuura Party, guarding several dangerous passes in the mountains. ”

Chongwen suddenly asked, "This Ryuzoji clan should be a retainer of Yoshihiro Ouchi." ”

Lin Guoxian said: "Exactly. ”

Chongwen thought for a while with his arms in his arms, and motioned for the little tail guy to continue. Hayashi pointed to the western part of Kyushu and said, "The Western Route Army is mainly 1,100 members of the Kikuchi family and 1,400 people from the Aso family of Higo Province. ”

Chongwen sneered: "Didn't the Kikuchi family support the Southern Dynasty, I remember that Kikuchi Takemitsu died at the hands of Imagawa Takeshi." Now that he is so energetic about the shogunate's orders, he actually joined forces with the enemy Aso family to fight Matsuura?"

Hong Dizhen smiled: "I probably want to regain the seat of the Fat Queen." ”

Chongwen nodded and asked, "Who are the two roads on the sea?"

Hayashi said, "The Shimazu family in Satsuma came from the south of Kyushu to the north, and there were about 2,000 people. The 2,100 members of Bungo's Otomo family would cross the Shimonoseki Strait along the northeastern coast of Kyushu and attack the coast where the Matsuura Party was strong. ”

Chongwen groaned and said, "The shogunate army is about 15,000 people... So how many troops does Nobuyo Matsuura have?"

Hayashi said, "The samurai of the Hata, Kanda, Sashi, Yoruko, and Tsuruta families of Upper Matsuura, and the samurai of the Imperial Kitchen, Mine, Imado, Shisa, Shoyama, Saki, and Imari of Shimomatura add up to about 3,000 people. ”

At this time, a guy reported that the wine and food had been prepared, Chongwen ordered the food to be served, and everyone sat down with a heavy heart. The leader of the Heido Merchants Gang accompanied Chongwen at a table, Xu Hai accompanied the entourage of the leaders at a table, and Sayuri led a few bewitching and charming wines, but was waved away by Chongwen, leaving only the little maid Hanako to serve.

Everyone knows that war is imminent, this is the war of the country, and it is also the life-and-death war of the Pinghu merchants. If the Matsuura Party had been exterminated, Hirado would not have survived alone, but there was a huge disparity in strength, and there were many bad lucks, and in this Dragon King Xuan, everyone expressed their true worries.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, Chongwen asked, "So what are you going to do?"

Hong Dizhen put the wooden chopsticks on the table and said briskly: "What else can I do, my lips are dead and my teeth are cold, I can't do it if I don't want to participate in the war, we will fight two ways by sea." ”

Chongwen frowned and said, "Even if you repel the Shimazu clan and the Otomo clan at sea, I'm afraid that the soldiers of the Matsuura Party will not be able to resist the three-way siege on land, what will I do then?"

There was silence at the table, and the Hirado merchant gang thought to himself, we have to know what to do, why bother to bow your head and lower your eyebrows in front of you. I invited you from afar, and I stammered in many ways, didn't I just hope that you would look at the Chinese family and point out a clear way.

After a long time, Chongwen ordered someone to invite Ryoshi Shimomura to come up and hand over Nonghime's letter to Chongwen. Chongwen glanced at the wax seal and hesitated for a moment before tearing open the incomparably precious letter.

There was no confidential information on the letter, just a waka written in Juan Xiu calligraphy:

Even if you think about it

This body is inseparable

I don't see you

I wish I would always follow you

Looking between the fence day and night

Kaolin is black and barren

It is difficult to cross the mountain at night

There's no better to stay here.

There was silence on the table, and everyone stared at Chongwen's expression. Because everyone knows that this information from Wakayama Castle and traveled through thousands of rivers and mountains to Hirado is likely to determine the net worth and life of everyone here. Everyone wanted to see a hint of good luck, but they didn't notice a trace of muscle change on Chongwen's face.

Chongwen took the letter and felt Nohime's affection, and understood what Nohime was going to tell him. Now that he knew the battle of Matsuura, the fog that had plagued him for many days had finally been lifted. He instructed to serve the pen and ink, and Hanako unfolded a snow-white letterhead, pressed it with a paperweight, and grinded out a bundle of rosin ink.

Chongwen put the pen in his hand, thought for a while, and wrote a line of five-character poems:

The mountains are colored from afar

Hear the water silently

The spring flowers are still there

People are not surprised when they come.

After sealing the letter and handing it to Ryoshi Shimomura, Chongwen said, "Just transfer this letter to Tomita Shiji, Wakayama Castle, and you can retreat." ”

The little pirate bowed and retreated, and everyone saw Chongwen writing a poem, everyone was a rough man on the sea, even Chai Demei could only be regarded as a rough text, no one knew that this was a great poem thousands of years ago, and they didn't understand why at this time, how could they still be in the mood to chant poetry. They didn't know that everything Chongwen had to say to Nonghime was in this poem.

Chongwen thought for a while and said, "Shibukawa Manlai has entered the army in several ways, have you seen anything?"

Hong Dizhen took the map and repeatedly compared it on the map with a wooden chopstick, but in the end she didn't see the reason, and looked at Chongwen blankly.

Chongwen took a sip of wine and said, "The five-way march of the Kyushu Exploration Mansion is actually very mysterious. Let's take a look, let's talk about the Dazaifu road on the east road, this road concentrates the soldiers and horses of Chikuzen Province, Chikugo Province and Ouchi clan, and the troops are not small. So under whose rule is Dazaifu? Of course, it is Yoshihiro Ouchi.

Speaking of the south road, the Ryuzoji clan of Saga was originally a retainer of the Ouchi clan, and whether he wants to attack Mount Imari or not depends on the meaning of Yoshihiro Ouchi. And the two armies of Higo Province on the west road must also pass through Saga if they want to attack Matsuura County, and if the Ryuzoji clan intends to make things difficult, it is impossible for the Higo army to go deep. ”

Lin Guoxian nodded and said: "The big sea means that the three-way soldiers and horses will attack Songpu County, and the grain and military resources will all depend on the Ouchi clan?"

"Not only that, but it can be said that the extent of these attacks depends on Yoshihiro Ouchi's attitude. Looking at the sea route again, the Otomo clan of Bungo Province runs from the east coast of Kyushu to the west coast, and if you want to take the sea route, you must go through the Maguan Strait, and the throat of this country is also under the control of the Ouchi clan. If the Ouchi clan didn't let the Otomo family pass, he wouldn't be able to reach Matsuura County even if he had 20,000 soldiers. ”

Lin Guoxian looked at the map and said, "Then the Shimazu clan, they come from the sea in the south, and they don't need the Ouchi clan." Satsuma's more than 2,000 samurai were also difficult to deal with once they reached Matsuura-gun. ”

Chongwen smiled: "It is also difficult for the Shimazu clan to go north. Because the main ships of the Shimazu Navy are in the Kayama clan's Fangzu Navy Army, and Kayama Shihisa has a rolling sea dragon king flag in his hand, and his son Kayama Yoshimasa is my brother of Ryuwang Island. If Ryuojima did not want the Kayama clan to join the war, the shogunate's orders would be useless in Satsuma Province. ”

Chongwen pointed to the knife-obsessed boy at the other table, and Kayama Yoshimasa bowed to everyone.

Xu Weixue said: "I understand, this time Kyushu's crusade against the Songpu Party seems to be huge, but it actually depends on the Ouchi clan. If the Ouchi clan obeys the shogunate and is bent on destroying Matsuura, then the Matsuura party will be more auspicious and less fortunate, and if the Ouchi clan is half-hearted, this crusade will be a show. ”

Chongwen smiled meaningfully: "Not bad." This is also the wisdom of Shibukawa Mitsuyori, who knows that he cannot command the people of Kyushu, and the shogunate's edict has to be carried out. So he deployed a strategy of advancing troops by sea and land, and the most important points were pushed to the head of Ouchi Yoshihiro.

If you win, it will naturally be the work of Kyushu's exploration. If he loses, of course, Yoshihiro Ouchi doesn't work hard, and the shogunate can't blame him. Who said that this Shibukawa is stupid? There must be a master around him to guide him. ”

Xu Weixue thought for a while, and then asked: "Then how do we know what Yoshihiro Ouchi thinks, he just killed Matsuura Nobuwei's son, could it be that he wants to kill him?"

Lin Guoxian said thoughtfully: "If he is bent on destroying Songpu and Heping, why did he only send 300 people?"

Chongwen said: "Before I walked into this Dragon King Xuan, I didn't know what Yoshihiro Ouchi thought, but now I know, it was this letter from Wakayama Castle that told me. ”

Chai Tokumi asked hopefully, "Didn't Nohime say that the Ouchi clan would not attack with all its might?"

Chongwen said: "Of course, Nohime can't tell me clearly that she is the daughter of Ouchi Yoshihiro and a retainer of the Ouchi clan, and if the letter unfortunately falls into the hands of unrelated people, she will not be in danger, so she can only write such a private letter."

But her waka has made it very clear: it is difficult to pass the mountain at night, so why not stay. What she meant was that since the situation was complicated and it was difficult to see, it was better to do nothing. That naturally tells me that everything is in the hands of the Ouchi clan, and that he will not work hard for the shogunate, so we don't need to panic. If you think about it carefully, you can understand that Yoshihiro Ouchi and the shogunate are inseparable, how can they consume their own strength and marry the shogunate?"

Lin Guoxian asked, "Could it be that Yoshihiro Ouchi and the shogunate are at odds?"

Chongwen shook his head and said: "It's not just discord, they may go to war at any time, but they are forced by the situation and reluctantly reach a fragile peace agreement." I've already told Mr. Wufeng about this, but if he doesn't believe me, what can I do? ”

There was silence at the table, Wu Zhi looked away this time, and he would complain in the Pinghu merchant gang somehow, which would damage his reputation.

Hong Dizhen asked, "So what should we do now?"

Chongwen thought for a moment and asked rhetorically, "Once Hirado is in danger, how many people can you dare to fight?"

Hong Dizhen said: "Each gang can make up about 2,000 young people, although the number is not large, but it is not the unarmed ashigaru of the servants, all of them are good men who have gone through the wind and waves." ”

Chongwen said in a distracted manner: "2,000 pirates, enough... ”

Hong Dizhen didn't hear clearly, and asked, "What did you say when you went to sea?"

Chongwen laughed and said, "I mean, let's wait." Soon the country will change greatly, and that is the time for us to show our talents, now, let Matsuura Nobuyo and Kyushu Exploration Mansion hide and seek for a few days. ”

Everyone looked at Chongwen in confusion, and Xu Weixue asked hesitantly, "Yes... What has changed?"

Chongwen smiled without saying a word, and drank all the wine in the cup.