different warring states of japan

It only took Hashiba Hideyoshi six days to return from the West Country, catching Mitsuhide Akechi by surprise.

At this time, Kyoto was in chaos, and Akechi Mitsuhide was determined to lead his troops out of the capital and use the complex terrain on the border between the two countries in Settsu Mountain Castle to block Hashiba Hideyoshi's Kamigaku army.

But Akechi Mitsuhide's plan was doomed to fail before it was implemented.

She didn’t know that Yodo City’s Matsunaga Hide had already colluded with Hashiba Hideyoshi and took the initiative to open up the Yodogawa first-line water transportation network.

Taking advantage of the Yodogawa water transport, Hashiba Hideyoshi was able to quickly occupy the southern line, which in turn turned Yamazaki into the protrusion of the entire defense line, surrounding Akechi Mitsuhide from the side and rear.

Even if Hosokawa Fujitaka, who occupies Katsuryuji Castle on the north bank of the Katsura River, is willing to help with all his strength, Akechi Mitsuhide cannot stop the rolling Oda army. Defending Yamazaki is tantamount to committing suicide.

Even before Akechi Mitsuhide realized this, she was doomed to suffer a big fall in Yamazaki.

---

On the eve of the upcoming confrontation between Hashiba Hideyoshi and Akechi Mitsuhide, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was traveling in Sakai Port, was also numb and panicked by waves of bad news.

Tokugawa Ieyasu, who originally planned to use the food stamp system to gain sway between the Shiba and Oda families through his support of Takada Harano, was in bad shape.

This is like Xiangjiang Lezizi preparing to act as a middleman between China and Eagle Kingdom, but when he looked back, Eagle Kingdom was gone. .

As Oda Nobunaga's most staunch ally, although Tokugawa Ieyasu has always been shrouded in the opponent's overwhelming light, the Tokugawa family has been able to securely guard Mikawa and Tokugawa.

Even though Takeda Shingen led the troops to attack fiercely, Oda Nobunaga also sent troops to assist and fulfilled his responsibilities as an ally.

Tokugawa Ieyasu never wanted Oda Nobunaga to die. She just wanted to weaken Oda Nobunaga's influence and prevent the Tokugawa family from becoming a subsidiary of Oda.

But now that Oda Nobunaga is dead, it just clicked and disappeared suddenly.

Not to mention the small matter that the economic barriers of the Shiba Oda family can bring economic benefits to the Tokugawa family, the Tokugawa family's own political and military security has also been severely challenged.

Sakai Port, a courtyard somewhere.

Tokugawa Ieyasu looked at the sky outside the wall with a sullen face on the porch. The weather was getting hotter between spring and summer, which made people feel agitated.

As news of Oda Nobunaga's death spreads, the Oda territory may be in turmoil at any time.

At this critical moment, Tokugawa Ieyasu did not make preparations on his own territory, but was stranded far away in Sakai Port. It was really too bad.

But the chaos outside was severe at the moment, and a gentleman would not stand under a dangerous wall. Tokugawa Ieyasu did not dare to leave Sakai Port and return to his own territory.

Just as she was sitting in the well looking at the sky and sighing, a figure carefully knelt down behind him.

"Lord."

Tokugawa Ieyasu patted the porch floor next to him and said.

"Come and sit."

The man shuddered and raised his head to carefully observe Tokugawa Ieyasu's face. He was Hattori Masashige, who took over the title of his mother Hanzo and was in charge of the Tokugawa Ninjas.

This young man, known as Abdo Hanzo Masashige, has shed his childishness and become Tokugawa Ieyasu's sharp blade in the shadows.

This time Tokugawa Ieyasu came to Sakai Port, and Hattori Masashige also accompanied him to ensure the lord's safety and provide the latest intelligence.

But even if she is highly valued and comes from a humble background, she is not qualified to sit next to the master.

But at this moment, Tokugawa Ieyasu still had the mood to care about the nobleness of the Hime Samurai and endure the wretchedness of the tradition of being humbled by others.

Whether she can return to Mikawa Enji as soon as possible depends on the operation of Hattori Masashige. Naturally, she wants to win over this minister.

Seeing Hattori Masaki's frightened look, Tokugawa Ieyasu felt relieved. At least this guy didn't have the guts to take the opportunity to negotiate terms.

Rewards and punishments come from above. To put it simply, I can give it to you, but you can't make your own demands. This is a taboo for those in superior positions.

Hattori Masashige knew the rules very well, and Tokugawa Ieyasu also relaxed a lot, pretending to be displeased.

"I asked you to come over!" "Hey, I have overstepped my bounds."

Hattori Masashige bowed deeply, carefully sat next to Tokugawa Ieyasu, and obeyed his orders respectfully.

Tokugawa Ieyasu nodded with satisfaction.

"That's right. You and I have been kings and ministers for many years, so why can't we sit together and talk?"

Hattori Masashige whispered.

"After all, I am a member of the Ninja clan..."

Tokugawa Ieyasu glared.

"What's wrong with the Ninja people? Are the Ninja people no longer considered ministers?

A sage can regard the ninja as his loyal ministers, and can grant the title of superior ninja to those who know their deeds with a thousand stones, and there are pearls and jade in front of them. Why can't I follow suit? "

Hattori Masashige's whole body was covered with chills and he fell to the ground.

"I am willing to be the master of the Lord!"

With the low status of the Ninja people, who wouldn't envy their counterparts in the Shiba family? The third Taifu of Momochi and Mukuro Fujibayashi are both Sengoku Tomoyuki, and they have all entered the high-level samurai class.

The Hattori family itself comes from the Iga clan, and together with the Momochi family and the Fujibayashi family, they are called the Sanjonin.

The Hattori family, who felt desperate when the shogunate blocked Iga country, took the initiative to leave Iga and went to Mikawa to find new opportunities, and finally prospered under Tokugawa Ieyasu.

This should be a good thing, but the most fearful thing is comparison.

Not long after the Hattori family left Iga country, Yoshigan Shiba was ordered to lead the Iga guards into the country, persuaded the Iga people to fight in Yamato, Hanoi and other places, and made great contributions to the shogunate.

After the Miyoshi War, Yoshigashi Shiba was granted the title of Iga, and the Peking University and the Imperial Academy together with a total of 200,000 koku established the Kinki Shiba Territory, and the Iga people also followed the chickens and dogs to ascend to heaven.

In this comparison, the Hattori family, who have left their hometown, look like idiots. They don't know what it feels like to watch their fellow villagers become prosperous.

Regardless of the purpose of Tokugawa Ieyasu's painting of Hattori Masashige this time, at least the painting was really good, and the painting made Hattori Masashige feel elated and burst into tears of gratitude.

Momochi Fujibayashi can be a high-level martial artist, why can't Hattori?

After Tokugawa Ieyasu said this, he observed Hattori Masashige's excited expression and smiled silently.

After a while, Tokugawa Ieyasu stopped his smile and asked.

"How did things go?"

Hattori Masashiro said.

"I used the gold given by the Lord to hire hundreds of ronin around Sakai Port and asked them to protect you along the way.

In addition, I also contacted the old connections of Iga people and spent a lot of money to find a way, which was enough to help the master cross Iga.

As long as we can successfully reach Ise Country, there are many ports there, and it will be easy to find merchant ships heading to Mikawa Enjiang to help the Lord return to his territory. "

Tokugawa Ieyasu nodded.

"Very good."

Sakai Port is prosperous, and merchants like to hire people to do their work. Most of the ronin from the surrounding countries who cannot survive are settled in the villages near Sakai Port.

The Mibu wolf under Takada Yono was one of these ronin back then.

As long as Tokugawa Ieyasu could afford the money, it would be easy to recruit one or two hundred mercenaries, but it was difficult to say whether these people were reliable.

But at this critical juncture, Tokugawa Ieyasu had no choice but to take one step at a time.

Fortunately, she had many powerful retainers, Hatamoto, with her, and she could also command and guard against these temporarily hired ronin, who could help her.