Harima Country, Himeji Castle.

Ichijo Hideyoshi watched Kobayakawa Takakage leave his courtyard and asked in a low voice to Ichijo Hideyoshi beside him.

"Where is Shimazu Yoshihiro?"

A long and helpless way.

"She is still traveling on the Seto Inland Sea, but the confession has already arrived on my desk.

It is said that the Shimazu family's army is too slow to turn around and may not be able to catch up with the first battle. At most, a thousand people can participate in the battle.

She was lax in supervising the troops, so she apologized to me."

Ichijo Hideyoshi smiled coldly and pointed at Kobayakawa Takakage who had disappeared outside the courtyard.

"I'll make a bet with you. The number of people participating in the war this time from the Shimazu family is only Shimazu Yoshihiro and one thousand.

Why can only a thousand people be reached in the first battle? She will definitely shirk the blame in every possible way in the follow-up. Unless I gain the upper hand in the battle with Shiba Yoshigan, the Shimadzu family will not send any more soldiers.

In the final analysis, there is no blood feud between the Shimazu family and the Shiba family. Her family just wants to show their worth and find a way out.

The only people who are really willing to come out to support me are the Maori family, because the Maori family has no way out."

Ichijo Hideyoshi nodded helplessly, agreeing with Ichijo Hideyoshi's view.

Shimazu Yoshihiro participated in the war in his own name. On the one hand, he gave the Shimadzu family a reason to evade the war afterwards. It can be said that she acted without authorization.

On the other hand, a thousand people may not be too much, but it is enough to show martial prowess on a local battlefield, and it also allows the saints of the Shiba family to see how powerful the Shimazu family is.

It can be seen that the Shimazu family was not optimistic about Ichijo Hideyoshi's adventure at all, and her family was already preparing for post-war cutting.

Therefore, unless the situation of the Battle of Shiba Ichichi is clear and the Ichichi family has the upper hand, the Shimadzu family will continue to delay the increase of troops.

Ichijo Hideyoshi split the Shimazu family into two, so that the Shimazu family would no longer be a threat to him.

Whether it was Shimazu Yoshihisa or Shimazu Yoshihiro, although these two smart men were at odds with each other, they relied on this discord as a tacit understanding to defeat Ichijo Hideyoshi and his army at the critical moment.

Shimadzu's unstable two-headed system gave the two Shimadzu sisters every reason to delay the increase in troops, and Hideyoshi Ichichi could not say anything.

Because Shimazu's political situation with two heads of discord was the result of a divide-and-rule policy secretly created by Kuroda Takako, a subordinate of Hideyoshi Ichijo.

On the contrary, the attitude of the Maori family was very positive. Kobayakawa Takakage personally led the troops and pulled out more than 30,000 people. It can be said that the Maori family's wealth was pulled out.

It's not that the Maori family likes to take chestnuts from the fire for Hideyoshi Ichijo, but the Maori family really has no choice.

Although the Maori family sent the defeated Nizi Katsuhisa out of the country, Nizi Katsuhisa died mysteriously on the road.

According to the subsequent analysis of the situation, this was the conspiracy between Akechi Mitsuhide and Ichijo Hideyoshi, the foreplay of the Honnoji Incident.

But the problem is that it is impossible for Sponey Bank to admit this.

If he admits that Nizi Katsuhisa was killed by Akechi Mitsuhide, then the Akechi family and Nizi family among the Shiba Kami descendants will become mortal enemies, and the death of Oda Nobunaga, which was originally suppressed, will be revealed again.

In order to unite the internal forces, Yoshihiro Shiba has asked Akechi Mitsuhide to raise Oda Nobunaga's orphan Kiyomaru, and promised to help Niko Yukimori return to the West, making the Niko family's revival stronger than before.

Therefore, the Mori family must be the murderer of Nizi Katsuhisa, otherwise the situation within the Shiba family will not be settled.

The Maori family knew this very well. Knowing that they could not compete with the Shiba family, the Maori family had no choice but to rely on Ichijo Hideyoshi and become the most loyal ally of the Ichijo family.

Even if they knew that Ichijo Hideyoshi had little chance of winning, the Mori family had no choice but to follow Ichijo Hideyoshi's bet.

Shaking his head to throw away the haze caused by the Shimadzu family's speculation, Ichijo Hideyoshi asked.

"How's it going at the Shiba family?"

Ichihide sighed.

"It's not just those clichés calling for peace. It's just that the economic cutoff has put a lot of pressure on our army's logistics. Do you really want to march into Shangluo?"

Seeing Hideyoshi Ichijo feeling uneasy, Hideyoshi Ichichi said helplessly.

"Do I have any choice?

While calling for peace, Sibo Yiyin cut off the funds of Sibo Tucang and did not allow Sibo to continue to deliver supplies to the front line of the peninsula.

In addition, it is a coincidence that Oda's envelope died. Oda's old leader appeared in the country, and the various places no longer listened to my orders.

Coupled with the fact that Shiba Yiyin has cut off logistics, those in Oda's old territory have sufficient reason to refuse my order and stop supplying military supplies on the grounds of road obstruction.

If I don’t resist now, when the reserve military supplies are in short supply, I will have no choice but to be captured."

Ichijo Hidecho said.

"This is the truth, but now the economy is in dire straits, the saints are shouting for peace, and the martial arts people in the world feel at ease and do not want to continue fighting.

If we insist on going against the trend, will we fall into the trap of the saint? Furthermore, for what reason should we go to war against the saint?

As the saying goes, a teacher has a reputation.

Now the Saint has not done any military mobilization. If we just make a surprise attack into the Sibo Territory, we may completely lose our popularity in the world."

Ichijo Hideyoshi sneered.

"Have you not done enough to cut off my economy, disrupt my territory, and force me to take action? Isn't it enough that Sibo Yiyin has done enough?

Apart from putting on a show and not mobilizing the military, he has exhausted all the tricks he can use. There are many fools in the world, but they are deceived by his hypocrisy.

Fortunately, in the final analysis, the world of the Wu family depends on whose fist is stronger. If you win, you are right no matter what, and you are not afraid of anyone making irresponsible remarks.

As for the reason for starting a war, who said I was going to start a war? I just went to Luo to ask for an explanation.

Sibo Yiyin accepted the canonization of the Ming Dynasty, ignored the bloodshed and tears of the soldiers on the front line, and made peace with the Ming Dynasty without authorization, which was inconsistent with etiquette.

He is the elder of the Gen clan, and I am the elder of the Fuji clan. He is the pillar of the Wu family, and I am the pillar of the public family. Even if he wants to accept the Ming Dynasty's recruitment, it is not his turn to make a unilateral decision.

I went to Luo this time to invite him to discuss state affairs and discuss the integration of public and military affairs. We should not make arbitrary opinions. Even if the island country does have a new king, it should be a king who integrates public and military affairs. This is the orthodoxy."

Ichijo Xiuchang nodded slightly.

"This reason barely makes sense."

The current island country is theoretically divided between public and military affairs. Hideyoshi Ichijo came from a humble background, but she inherited the Tosa Ichichi family, revived the public family, and barely gained the status to rule the world.

Although the warriors under her command were only intimidated by the strength of her fists and had to bow down, they finally had a reasonable political status to maintain their rule.

On the side of Shiba Yiyin, it is the Shiba Shenquan that was magically modified by the samurai shogunate, and the background is still the orthodoxy of the pillars of the samurai family.

Gongjia Guanbai and Wujia shogun were originally two lines of rule that were split from the imperial court system.

Yoshigan Shiba accepted the Ming Dynasty's canonization without authorization and became the king of the island country. Ichijo Hideyoshi refused to accept it and asked Luo for an explanation in the name of a public leader, which barely complied with the rules of the game of island country politics.

But, it's just barely make sense.

Since Ashikaga Yoshimitsu massacred the emperor's ministers and accepted the Ming Dynasty's canonization, the island country has entered the unified rule of the samurai shogunate. It has long been no longer the dual rule of the Kamakura period where the imperial court and the shogunate coexisted. Doesn't Ichijo Hideyoshi want to be the pillar of the samurai family? Doesn't he want to rule the samurai family legitimately?

The world?

It’s not that I don’t want to, I really can’t.

Ashikaga Yoshiaki wanted to save face and refused to adopt Ichijo Hideyoshi as his adopted daughter. So Ichijo Hideyoshi had no choice but to go to the outdated Tosa Ichijo family and pick up the fallen Sekihaku regency system to clear his name.

But now it is the world of the samurai family, and all the samurai families are ruled by Ichijo Hideyoshi. She also knows in her heart how much appeal her public etiquette of a public leader has, and it is equivalent to nothing.

The local samurai who submitted to the Ichijo family either had a mortal feud with the Shiba family or were impressed by the force of the Ichijo family, so they pinched their noses and accepted the rule of the public leader Hideyoshi.

Now that Ichijo Hideyoshi wants to use the support of the samurai family to accept the king of the island country, he goes to Luo to attack in the name of a public leader. It is really funny.

But the fact that Ichijo Hideyoshi, who came from a humble background, could climb to the only position in the world today is the biggest joke in the strict hierarchy of the samurai society.

Ichijo Hidecho smiled helplessly and asked.

"You plan to use public and military forces to discuss state affairs with the saints in the name of Luo. So how should we act specifically?"

Ichijo Hideyoshi knew that she was making a big gamble, and that was why she thought about it and deduced it countless times.

At this moment, she spoke frankly without hiding anything from her sister.

"Shangluo is just a cover. I want to capture Sakai Port and hold the front line of Ishiyama Sakai Port in my hands.

Then go up to Luo along the Yodo River and capture Yodo Castle, Fushimi Castle, Sakamoto Castle, Azuchi Castle, and Sawayama Castle.

Best, we can also capture Gifu City."

Ichijo Hidecho asked a little confused.

"Aren't you going to Luo? Why are you running further east?"

The Osaka Bay area formed by the Sakai Port Stone Mountain is the rear area of ​​a regiment on Luo. In order to ensure smooth logistics supply, it must be captured.

Yodo Castle is the gateway to Yamashiro Country, and Fushimi Castle is the guard of the southern suburbs of Kyoto, so naturally they must both be captured.

But after Ichijo Hideyoshi captured these castles, he had no intention of going south to the Nara Basin to find Tamonyama Castle to find Yoshigan Shiba.

Instead, they continued eastward, invaded Omi Country, and even went to Mino Country, which made Ichibashi Hidecho a bit confused.

Sakamoto Castle is the entrance of Kyoto's water transport to Lake Biwa, Azuchi Castle controls the southern Omi plain, and Sawayama Castle is an important town between north and south Omi. This is to penetrate Omi country all the way.

Gifu Castle is an important town in the Mino Kingdom, the former residence of Oda Nobunaga, and the starting point of the military empire. It overlooks the Noo Plain.

Ichijo Hideyoshi took the name of Giro, but instead of looking for Shiba Yoshigan, he went on a rampage in Omi Mino, which puzzled Ichijo Hideyoshi.

Looking at his puzzled sister, Ichijo Hideyoshi explained.

"It doesn't make sense for me to go to Tawen Mountain Castle, but it makes more sense to go to Oda's old territory.
To be continued...