Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2157 Zong Baikui (Weiyi) The Rebellion in the Village (Two in One)
Considering what Kaiji said, if the Shimadzu family's more than 60 shi joined the Western Army, it would indeed add a very important bargaining chip to the Western Army.Moreover, Kai Ji also specifically pointed out that the Shimadzu family is required to "seriously help Sancheng fight this battle", which is even more important.

The fighting power of the Shimadzu family is obvious to all, especially when Yoshihiro Shimadzu, the "Oni Shimadzu", can still go out in person, it may not be too much to calculate that the fighting power of their soldiers is twice that of the soldiers of ordinary famous families.

Of course, the total strength of the Shimadzu family is not large. According to the Japanese habit of "two hundred and five thousand stones" (every ten thousand stones can provide 250 soldiers), the normal state of the Shimadzu family has only 64 troops. [Note: The territory of the Shimadzu family was greatly reduced after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's "Kyushu Conquest", and part of it was returned after the end of the Korean War, which is currently about [-] shi. ]
Of course, the 6000 soldiers and horses cannot come out in full force, because the territory of Kato Kiyomasa is not far to the north of the Shimadzu family's territory, and both sides have to guard against each other to avoid being stolen.Gao Pragmatically estimated that the Shimadzu family can send out [-] people, which is considered a very hard work.

In the original history, Yoshihiro Shimadzu only took more than 600 troops to participate in the Battle of Sekigahara, and was even ridiculed because he brought too few troops. Of course, after the war, he slapped those who laughed at him with his record.Now if Shimadzu Yoshihiro can take [-] "armies" to join the war and fight hard, it might really bring about a turning point to Ishida Mitsunari's Western Army.

Having considered this point clearly, the next thing to consider is another thing: Now that the situation between Ieyasu and Sannari is deteriorating rapidly, and even seems to be faster than the progress in the original history, can the Shimadzu family be ready to send [-] troops?
If there is no accident, of course it is possible in theory, but the problem is that Gao Yushi has already learned about Yijiyuan Zhongdong's killing. According to the original historical process, it is difficult to say about the issue of sending troops.Because shortly after Zhongdong was killed in the original history, a major rebellion broke out in the Shimadzu family: the change in Shonai.

Why did Shimadzu Zhongheng kill Ijuin Zhongdong?There are different opinions on this matter in history, and it can be summed up for the following reasons:
The first theory is that Yijiin Zhongdong acted arrogantly.The Shimadzu family's historical material "Shounai Zhenji" records: "Ijiin was fortunate to build a house in Fushimi, creating an extremely luxurious and beautiful building. The style is similar to that of the lord, and the lord's mansion can't match it. The arrogant appearance is better than before."

It is said that Ijuin Tadato played an important role in the process of the Shimadzu family surrendering to the Toyotomi regime, and was favored by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In fact, he was independent from the Shimadzu family, but he was still a retainer of the Shimadzu family in name.But Ijiin Zhongdong had already equated himself with a daimyo at the lord level in his heart, and he didn't take the Shimadzu family, who was the lord of the year, seriously.

The so-called extravagant and beautiful houses and the arrogance of the style are all superficial phenomena. The essence of the problem is the arrogant, authoritarian and defiant mentality of Yijuin Zhongdong reflected behind this phenomenon.

According to the people's concept at that time, such actions by Yijiin Zhongdong were equivalent to "conspiracy of treason" in nature.This is intolerable to Shimadzu Tadahiro, Shimadzu Yoshihisa, and Shimadzu Yoshihiro.

The second theory is that Zhongdong Yijiin was not very popular in Shimadzu's family, and Zhongdong Shimadzu killed him to build his own prestige.Ijuin Tadato is like Ishida Mitsunari of the Shimadzu family. He has great power and outstanding talents, but his interpersonal relationship is poor, and everyone in the family has been offended by him all over the place.

Basically, except for Yoshihisa Shimadzu, he didn't dare to yell at him. Almost all of the Shimadzu family, big and small, civil and military ministers, have been yelled at by him, even Yoshihiro Shimadzu, Shimadzu Iehisa and other family members are no exception.

According to the "History of the Shimadzu Country", once the Shimadzu family held a meeting, Zhongdong Ijuin had a dispute with Suihisa Shimadzu, and his words were not rude. Shimadzu Suiku was so angry that he sued Yoshihisa Shimadzu: "This son will be a national disaster in the future!"

After the Shimadzu family surrendered the Toyotomi regime, Ijuin Tadato acted as the spokesperson of Toyotomi Hideyoshi for his own personal gain. Especially in the fourth year of Bunroku (1595) when the Shimadzu family "replaced the two halls", they tried their best to exclude and denigrate Shimadzu Seihisa, Kitago Tokihisa and others, and obtained the territory of [-] koku in Hyuga Shonai for himself.Everyone in the Shimadzu family hated Yijiin Zhongdong deeply, but dared to be angry but did not dare to speak out.

At this time, Shimadzu Tadahiro was newly succeeded to the throne, and the hearts of the people were not convinced. He happened to win the support of everyone in the family for himself by getting rid of Yijiin Zhongdong, a "sycophant" and "treacherous minister".

The third theory is that Ijuin Tadato once sought to make his son Ijuin Tadamitsu the adopted son of Shimadzu Yoshihisa, which undoubtedly violated Shimadzu Tadatoshi's political taboo.

There is a premise here. Yijiin Zhongdong's son Yijuin Zhongzhen married Shimadzu Yoshihiro's daughter and became a relative of his sons and daughters. Shimadzu Yoshihiro also adopted Yijiin Zhongzhen as his adopted son and allowed him to use the Shimadzu surname, so he could call himself "Shimadzu Tadoma".

When Shimadzu Kubo died of illness, and Shimadzu Yoshihisa and Shimadzu Yoshihiro had not yet determined the next heir, Ijuin Tadato suggested to Ishida Mitsunari that Ijuin Tadama be the heir of Shimadzu Yoshihiro as his son-in-law and adopted son, and then Shimadzu Yoshihisa adopted Shimadzu Yoshihiro as his adopted son. In the future, Shimadzu Yoshihisa and Shimadzu Yoshihiro could be inherited at the same time, realizing the internal unity of the Shimadzu family.

However, this plan was too bold, and even Mitsunari Ishida felt that it was unreliable, so he did not adopt it.But Ijuin Tadato’s idea undoubtedly exposed his great ambition to usurp the Shimadzu family—because it was not impossible, there was Naoshima Naoshige’s successful replacement of the Ryuzoji family as a daimyo precedent—and it also confirmed that he was indeed "conspiring against".

In a country with an absolute monarchy, the issue of establishing an heir is often referred to as "the foundation of the country". It is extremely taboo for ministers to intervene in the establishment of an heir, which is regarded as "shaking the foundation of the country".This point is the same no matter in Ming Dynasty or Japan.

Ijuin Zhongdong violated the political taboo of the Shimadzu family, especially threatened Shimadzu Tadahiro's status. Even if Shimadzu Yoshihisa and Shimadzu Yoshihiro were willing to spare him, Shimadzu Tadahiro would not let him go.Ijuin Tadato has been doomed to die since he attempted to make Ijuin Tadashi the heir of the Shimadzu family through political operations.

However, there are some interesting clues here. For example, according to "Zhuangnai Zhenji": "Ishida Jibu's minor assistant Sancheng, who was originally a famous name promoted by the Taige, and his status was close to that of the old middle school. He found out that Lord Jia Kang of the inner government would seize the power of the world's government affairs. The insider Feng Ruojun wanted to get rid of the inner government and wanted to rely on the imperial family for help. He secretly informed Lord Zhongheng about the conspiracy of his luck. "

According to this statement, Shimadzu Tadahiro knew of Ijuin Tadatoshi's "conspiracy", but Ishida Mitsunari took the initiative to disclose it to him.

Of course, Ishida Mitsunari himself is a person who likes to use "conspiracies", so he is a bit self-conscious. Obviously, he did not expect Shimadzu Tadatoshi to react so fiercely and directly, and he would adopt such a simple and rude way of beheading on the spot.

In addition, Shimadzu Tadahiro must have discussed with Shimadzu Yoshihiro before killing Ijiin Zhongdong. Although "Shounai Zhenji" does not record how Shimadzu Yoshihiro expressed his position, judging from the context, Shimadzu Yoshihiro should have agreed, or at least acquiesced.You know, Shimadzu Yoshihiro and Ijuin Zhongdong are relatives. If he doesn't nod or acquiesce, Shimadzu Zhongdong may not be able to kill directly.

Of course, there may be some inherent ambiguity in the Japanese language here: it is possible that Shimadzu Yoshihiro’s actual meaning at the time was just “Ijuin Tadato’s problem really needs to be resolved”, but Shimadzu Tadatoshi deliberately interpreted it as “Ijuin Tadato can be killed”.

As for the question after the killing, Shimadzu Tadahiro said that the family of Ijuin Zhongdong was pardoned, but this was not the case.After killing Ijuin Tadato, he ordered people to go to the Ijuin family's mansion, and moved Ijuin Tadato's wife Kili, Ijuin Tadato's second son Xiaodenji, third son Saburo Goro, and fourth son Senjiro to Tofuku Temple in the east of Fushimi Castle and imprisoned.

The purpose of doing this is obvious. It is to use Ji Lishi and others as hostages to coerce Yijuin, who is staying in Hinata Shonai's territory, to submit faithfully.Shimadzu Tadahisa also sent people to Osumi Fukuma Castle to report to Shimadzu Yoshihisa about the execution of Ijuin Zhongdong.

Ijuin Tadatoshi and Ishida Mitsunari had a very good personal relationship, and they were a pawn placed in the Shimadzu family by the Toyotomi regime. At any rate, they were considered number one in the Toyotomi regime. Shimadzu Tadatoshi killed Ijuin Tadatou without authorization, which was against the law at the time.Although Ishida Mitsunari lived in seclusion in Sawayama Castle, he still secretly manipulated the worshipers in Beijing, so he was particularly annoyed when he found out about this, and sent Hidean Ataka to the Shimadzu mansion to question Shimadzu Tadahiro:

"Fortunately, Kan was able to inherit the favor of the former Taige. The ministers of the Yugong Dynasty are not the only ministers of the Shimadzu family. If you punish him without first inviting him, you should avoid it and wait for the crime."

According to Ishida Mitsunari's instructions, Shimadzu Tadahiro was taken away from the mansion and placed in Hase Temple, then moved to Takao Temple, and then moved to Jingo Temple.Of course, Shimadzu Tadahiro is the daimyo of the country after all, and his status is extraordinary, and the followers cannot directly punish him, but have to wait for the ruling of Tokugawa Ieyasu and other elders, so they can only be imprisoned first.However, Ishida Mitsunari was afraid that someone from the Shimadzu family would come and kidnap him, so he relocated three times, making outsiders confused about where Shimadzu Tadahiro was locked up.

Tokugawa Ieyasu was also very concerned about Shimadzu Tadatoshi's murder of Ijuin Tadato. He sent Ii Naomasa, Ina Tadaji and other capable men to visit Shimadzu Tadatoshi to learn about the details of the incident.

The most tense person during this period was Shimadzu Yoshihiro, because the general situation of the world was not clear at this moment, and Shimadzu Tadatoshi had such a major incident, Shimadzu Yoshihiro was afraid that Ijuin Zhongdong's followers would come to cause trouble, so he had to order the Shimadzu family mansion to close its doors and martial law, and everyone in the family followed the pattern of two armies fighting.

Shimadzu Yoshihisa of Fukuma Castle also received a report from Shimadzu Tadatoshi's swordsman Ijuin Tadato in Satsuma Osumi, the home of the Shimadzu family.According to "Shimadzu National History" and "Shounai Jinji", Shimadzu Yoshihisa also knew and "agreed to kill Ijuin Zhongdong" in advance (it is not ruled out that his situation is the same as Yoshihiro's), so he left Beijing and returned to China in advance to create "alibi".

Even the seasoned Shimadzu Yoshihisa turned against the general and wrote to Ishida Mitsunari: "I don't know if Xingkan's murder was ordered by Sannari-den? It is foolish to think that this matter is very inappropriate, and Zhongheng has never discussed it with the clumsy people. It is really extremely reckless."

In the letter, Shimadzu Yoshihisa not only dismissed his responsibilities, but also asked "I don't know if it was the instruction of Sannariden". It is estimated that Ishida Mitsunari was very angry when he saw this letter.

After teasing Ishida Mitsunari, Shimadzu Yoshihisa has to deal with Ijuin Tadoma next.Shimadzu Yoshihisa sent people to Hyuga Capital to inform Ijuin Tadoma, and asked Ijuin Tadano to visit Fukuma Castle; at the same time, he mobilized troops and ordered Shinna Tadamoto, Kitago Tokihisa, Ewa Kuine, Iraiin Shigetoki and other Satsuma to block the main passage from Hyuga Capital to Osumi and Satsuma, and strategically encircled Hyuga Capital.

While calling people to come, while not letting them come, Shimadzu Yoshihisa's operation in this way is obviously to drive Ijuin Zhongzhen into a desperate situation, force him to revolt, and then he can be wiped out.

Ijuin Tadoma is not stupid, he probably understood Shimadzu Yoshihisa's intentions.To this day, he can only write to his father-in-law Yoshihiro Shimadzu, expressing his grievances: "I was shocked to hear that my father Xingkan was executed suddenly. As for how I should deal with myself, I urgently need to be announced by Long Bogong. However, all the intersections in and out of the village are currently closed, and soldiers set fire everywhere. It is confusing and incomprehensible. If my family can be guaranteed to continue, I am willing to go to see Long Bogong and accept any punishment."

It can be seen from this that Yijuin Zhongzhen did not intend to fight the Shimadzu family to the end at the beginning. He would rather sacrifice himself in exchange for the continuation of the Yijuin family.It's a pity that the Shimadzu family has already planned to eliminate the Ijuin family (in fact, the Ijuin family has other branches, and the Ijuin Zhongdong branch is the main family), so Shimadzu Yoshihiro cannot provide the guarantee that Ijuin Zhongzhen wants.

Yoshihiro Shimadzu was vague in his reply letter, talking about empty truths, and promised: "I will try my best to preserve what you know and do in your territory. Please go to see me as soon as possible to apologize. If you are a little later, I'm afraid there will be regrets left."

At such a critical moment of life and death for the Ijuin family, Yoshihiro Shimadzu's promise was only to "do his best", which disappointed Ijuin Zhongzhen.

Because it takes time for the message to pass, what Gao Wushi doesn't know at the moment is that Yijiyuan Zhongzhen has already raised his troops.

In April of the fourth year of Qingchang, Yijiyuan, who felt that there was nowhere to go, faithfully gathered the family and the Lang Party, and raised troops in Hyuga Village.The Yijiyuan family obtained a territory of [-] shi during the adjustment of the Shimadzu family's territory, and a group of retainers under it also ascended to heaven, sharing huge benefits. These retainers have formed an inseparable relationship of interest and attachment to the Yijiyuan family.

It is not difficult to imagine that if the Yijiyuan family perishes, the territories that these retainers have allocated from the Yijiyuan family will all be returned to the Shimadzu family. Who can bear it?Therefore, these retainers followed Yijiin Zhongzheng wholeheartedly, and the Shimadzu family fought hard to the end.

Besides, from the perspective of the Yijuin family, Shimadzu Tadashi's killing of Yijuin Zhongdong was indeed quite bullying.Now that the patriarch is humiliated, the retainers avenge the master, which is also in line with the values ​​​​of a samurai.Therefore, the loyal troops of Yijuin actually have high morale, which should not be underestimated.

Now that troops are raised, the next two sides can only fight each other.Yiducheng [Note: Capital is a name, not the meaning of capital city. ] as the center, Shonai Township, Zhuxian County, Hyuga Country, is a basin from a geographical point of view, known as the "Shonai Basin" or "Miyako Basin", and has always been the territory of the Shimadzu Royal Family Kitago Clan.

During the period when Takahisa Shimadzu and Yoshihisa Shimadzu put down Hyuga, in order to prevent the southward invasion of the Ito family, the Kitago family built Hengyoshi Castle, Umehoku Castle, Sueyoshi Castle, Kajiyama Castle, Katsuoka Castle, Yamanoguchi Castle, Kodaka Castle, Shiwaike Castle, Nonomi Valley Castle, Yamada Castle, Yasunaga Castle, and Caibu Castle with the capital as the center. "Castle defense system.

After the Shonai territory changed hands, the new Ijuin family inherited this defense system, and strengthened the city walls, dug moats, and continuously strengthened the defense.After Yijiyuan loyally raised his troops, he naturally assigned generals to station in the Twelve Outer Cities to prevent Shimadzu's army from attacking the capital.

Shimadzu Yoshihisa saw that Ijuin Tadama had stepped into the designed trap, so he issued a "strike" to gather the troops, mobilizing the lords, land leaders, and people of the three countries of Satsuma, Osumi, and Hyuga (counties and counties), and sent troops to the village to assemble and rendezvous.

The generals who participated in the conquest of the Shonai Rebellion included Toyohisa Shimadzu (Lord Hyuga Satawara), Seihisa Shimadzu (Lord Osumi Tarumi), Tadacho Shimadzu (Lord Naga, Lord Satsuma), Kiiri Hisamasa (Lord Osumi Nagashi), Masamune Hirata (Lord Naka, Satsuma Yoshida), Masaki Kamada (Lord Naka, Satsuma Isuku), Hishishima Kunisada (Old Naka, Lord Satsuma), Nagao Shousin Mori Jun (old middle, Osumi Kamo land), Kitango Shijiu (Satsuma Qidayuan land), Shinna Tadamoto (Satsuma Oguchi land), Tanegashima Hisashi (Satsuma Chiran land), Irirain Shigetoki (Satsuma Yu no Oo land), Eva Kuyin (Satsuma valley mountain land), Yamada Yuei (Satsuma fuku mountain land), Katsura Zhongken (Osumi Takayama land), Terayama Hisaken (Osumi city Chengji land), Ne Zhan Shigemasa (Osumi Auspicious Land), Kashiwahara Country (Osumi Matsuyama Land), Kawayama Kudaka (Hyuga Shibushi Land), Ui Sato Kane (Hyuga Kobayashi Land), Shikine Yoritoyo (Hyuga Nojiri Land), etc.

As I said before, according to Ishi Taka of the Shimadzu family, the total strength of his family in normal seasons is about [-].

Therefore, as soon as the war started, both sides recruited part of their troops.Because of the Ijuin rebellion, the Shimadzu family first lost 2000 Hyuga and [-] elite soldiers, and then recruited troops in the territory, and the Ijuin family also recruited [-] more with [-] elite soldiers as the main force.

In the end, the Shimadzu family had about 2 troops, and the Ijuin Chushin had about 4000 troops.The Shonai conquest army of the Shimadzu family was divided into two groups. Satsuma and Hyuga were in the north, and Osumi was in the south. With absolute superiority in force, they came towards the north and south of the capital like a pair of huge iron tongs.

According to the practice of the Shimadzu family, for such an army, either the head of the army will go out in person, or a member of the sect or an old middleman will serve as the general.However, at this time Shimadzu Yoshihisa had been ill for a long time and was unable to go to battle, and Shimadzu Yoshihiro and Shimadzu Tadakahisa father and son were both in Kyoto and were unable to lead the army.

But it's okay. The Shimadzu family swept Kyushu a few years ago and trained many famous players. It can be said that there are a lot of talents.Now in the Shonai Expeditionary Army, Toyohisa Shimadzu, Seihisa Shimadzu, Tadacho Shimadzu, Masuke Hirata, Masaki Kamada, Kunisada Hishishima, Morijun Chojuin, and several others are qualified to serve as generals in the Shonai Expeditionary Army.

These people are all very politically aware. After discussing with each other, they agreed that it is most appropriate for Shimadzu Tadahei to do the great work of quelling the Shonai Rebellion.Because whether it is for the Shimadzu family or for Shimadzu Tadahiro personally, it is of great benefit, and it will not have this effect if it is replaced by other people.Therefore, they elected Shimadzu Tadahisa as a representative, advised Shimadzu Yoshihisa, and suggested that Shimadzu Tadahisa be the general of the Shonai Expeditionary Army.

Shimadzu Yoshihisa actually had this intention a long time ago, but Shimadzu Tadahisa was in Kyoto, and was imprisoned by Ishida Mitsunari and others. How can Shimadzu Tadahisa come back?After thinking about it, only Tokugawa Ieyasu can fight against the followers.So Yoshihisa Shimadzu didn't say much, and immediately wrote to Tokugawa Ieyasu for help.

Tokugawa Ieyasu had known for a long time that Jinghua had a close relationship with the Shimadzu family, and naturally he would not hold back the Shimadzu family. Here we need to make two points: Ieyasu had already guessed that Gao Yushi had the intention of provoking a civil war in Japan, but he had no choice but to try his best to "influence" Ishida Mitsunari during this period.If Ishida Mitsunari can be successfully influenced, then the "best policy" has been achieved.

If the best policy cannot be achieved and the war will eventually break out, then there is a "middle policy", that is, to draw in all possible forces and strive to end the war as quickly as possible and at the lowest cost.The fighting power of the Shimadzu family is unquestionable, so Ieyasu immediately realized after receiving the letter from Shimadzu Yoshihisa that this was an excellent opportunity to strengthen his relationship with the Shimadzu family.

As long as the Shimadzu family can be won over, among other things, it will be difficult for Kiyomasa Kato, the biggest hidden danger in Kyushu, to act rashly, which will greatly reduce the difficulty of the war for the Tokugawa family.

Therefore, Tokugawa Ieyasu immediately agreed that Tadahiro Shimadzu would lead the troops to quell the Shonai rebellion.Although Tokugawa Ieyasu is known as an old turtle, he has always acted vigorously and resolutely when he has decided, and never dragged his feet.Ieyasu issued a writ jointly signed by him, Mori Terumoto and Ukita Hideka: "Major General Shimadzu Tadatoshi killed Ijuin Kokan, and the king punished his rebels. It cannot be judged as arbitrarily killed."

Ieyasu then ordered Ina Tadaji to lead fifty riders, go to Jingoji Temple with a warrant, release Shimadzu Tadahiro, and escort him to Shimadzu's mansion.

In June of the fourth year of Keicho, Shimadzu Tadahisa returned to Satsuma, first went to Fukuma Castle to meet with Shimadzu Yoshihisa, and then rushed to Shonai without stopping.On June 23rd (5:00 am to 7:00 am), Tadahiro Shimadzu personally led the team, climbed over Mount Higashikirishima in the morning mist, and arrived at the King Kongo Buddha Temple at Higashi Kirishima Shrine, where he set up his team.

In this way, the north route of the Shonai Expeditionary Army was personally commanded by Shimadzu Tadahiro, while the south route was handed over to the old Nakajimazu Tadacho.

At 23:8 a.m. on June 00, Shimadzu Tadahiro ordered an attack on Yamada Castle in the northwest corner of the Twelve Outer Castles in Shonai.The main force of the siege was the troops of Shimadzu Toyohisa, Kitago Tohisa, and Irumiin Shigetoki.

Among them, Beixiang Shijiu and his retainers fought the most.Because the land in Shonai has long been the territory of the Beigo family. However, in the fourth year of Wenlu (1595), when the Shimadzu family's territory was adjusted, Beixiang Shijiu was taken away by Yijiyuan Zhongdong, and the rich Shonai territory fell into the hands of the Yijiyuan family.

Such a deep hatred, the Beixiang family will naturally remember it in their hearts, so it is the time for his family to avenge the turmoil in the village.The Beixiang family, headed by Beixiang Shijiu, vented their grievances accumulated over the years on the guards of Yamada Castle.

The guard of Yamada Castle of the Ijuin family is the titan Nagasaki Osamu. Facing the Shimadzu army, he commanded well and defended according to the danger.

Seeing that the Kitago Army was not making progress, Toyohisa Shimadzu stepped forward and stormed the "Otemon" (main gate) of Yamada Castle with a battering ram.The battering ram was so powerful that seeing that the Otemon Gate of Yamada Castle could not hold up, Nagasaki Osamu took a surprise and ordered the gate to be opened.

Nagasaki Osamu was very proud of winning the flag dedicated to Toyohisa Shimadzu, and ordered the flag to be erected on the arrow oar.Nagasaki Osamu's original intention was to show off that his side had captured the flag of the opposing general.However, what he never expected was that when Kitago Shijiu's troops saw it, they thought it was Shimadzu Toyohisa who had already entered the city.

Beixiang Shijiu's son Beixiang Mijiu raised his arms excitedly and shouted: "At this time and this place, how can the Beixiang family fall behind?"At this moment (11:00 in the morning), Nagasaki Zhibu couldn't stand it anymore, so he could only set fire to the Honmaru Palace, abandon the city and flee.

If Gao Pragmatically knew about this accident, he might have to comment on it: pretending to be struck by lightning.

On the same day, Tadacho Shimadzu of the South Road also commanded Kawayama Kudaka, Kashiwahara Kuni and others to attack the southernmost Hengji Castle among the twelve outer cities in Shonai.The guard Ijuin Soemon resisted for two days, but seeing that he was defeated, he abandoned the castle on the night of June 25 and led his troops back to Sueyoshi Castle.

Although everyone is a veteran of the Shimadzu family, and both sides have elite soldiers and strong generals, after all, the Shimadzu army has the upper hand and played a good start.But the Shimadzu family probably didn't expect it at the moment, and they will encounter a hard bone next.

After Kitago Tokihisa captured Yamada Castle, Shimadzu Tadahisa divided his troops into two groups. Toyohisa Shimadzu, Kiiri Hisamasa, and Irumaiin Shigetoki attacked Shiwaike Castle, while Kitago Tokihisa, Hirata Masamune, Shinna Tadamoto, and Tanegashima Hisashi attacked Nonomiya Castle.The Ijuin family also fought against the same enemy and fought desperately. Until July [-], the Shimadzu Army still failed to capture Shiwaike Castle and Nonomi Valley Castle.

At this time, according to Tokugawa Ieyasu's instructions, Hizen Hirodaka, the Lord of Hizen Karatsu Castle who had a close relationship with the Shimadzu family, sent his old family, Genzaemon Hirano, to the Shonai to try to mediate the Shimadzu family's internal strife.

Hirano Genzaemon went to the capital to meet Ijuin Tadama, and Ijuin Tadama expressed his willingness to surrender, but the condition was that the Ijuin family would continue and the territory would not change.Shimadzu Zhongheng couldn't accept this, and he insisted that the Ijuin family must reduce the title and change it to another place.The two sides insisted on their own views and could not reach an agreement.Hirano Genzaemon failed to mediate, so the battle resumed.

At this time, Gao Wushi had already learned about the previous events, and expressed his support for the Shimadzu family to quell the rebellion. At the same time, he asked the Shimadzu family to report the battle situation every few days.Of course, it is meaningless to just express support. Gao Yushi happily ordered the Crystal Building of Qingshui City to allocate [-] Yongle Tongbao to the Shimadzu family as military expenses.

[Note: Japan has always recognized the copper coins of the Ming Dynasty, especially Yongle Tongbao, so that although it is now in the Wanli Dynasty, Yongle Tongbao will be privately minted in Jiangsu and Zhejiang to supply Japan because it is profitable.However, because Jinghua controls the trade with Japan, this business is also controlled by Jinghua, so Jinghua has a large number of Yongle Tongbao in its hands, which can almost control the circulation of Japanese coins. ]
On July 1599th in the fourth year of Keicho ([-]), the guard of Yamanoguchi Castle, Kurano Qibing Weiwei, took the initiative to attack, bypassing Shiwaike Castle, and raided Shimadzu Tadatsune's main camp at Higashi Kirishima Shrine.Shimadzu Tadahiro was caught off guard and fell into a passive state for a while.Fortunately, the Kurano Seventh Army Guard was killed by a musket in the melee, and the Ijuin Army retreated, and the Shimadzu Army was able to avoid the base camp being taken over by a pot.

Here is something to interject: Japan’s iron cannons originally came from Western muskets obtained by Tanegashima, but now the Shimadzu family has obtained a batch of Wanli-style muskets produced by Jinghua in the early days because of their full reliance on high pragmatism. This makes Shimadzu’s muskets much more advanced than ordinary Japanese iron cannons.

The first type of Wanli was hardly installed in Daming, because not long after it was developed, Jinghua developed the second type of Wanli.However, in terms of range and accuracy, Wanli Type [-] is not worse than Wanli Type [-]. The difference is mainly in the ignition method-Wanli Type [-] is ignited with matchstick, while Wanli Type [-] is ignited with flintlock.

This time, it was the Shimadzu Army's Wanli Type [-] musket that killed the Kurano Seventh Guard, and this record made the Shimadzu family even more convinced of the strength of Jinghua.

On the same day, the defenders of Nonomiya Castle also turned against the enemy and took the initiative to attack. Beixiang Shijiu was also caught off guard and had to retreat to Yamada Castle.

From July to August, the Shimadzu Army attacked Shiwaike Castle and Nonomiya Castle several times, but failed to conquer them.However, the Ijuin army was unable to completely repel the Shimadzu army due to too few troops, and the battle situation suddenly fell into a stalemate.

On September [-]th, in order to break the stalemate, Shimadzu Yoshihisa sent Shimadzu Yoshihiro to sneak into Sakai Port from Kyoto to ask Kai Feiji, hoping that Jinghua could provide Shimadzu Army with a batch of artillery to attack.It is reasonable to say that Kai Ji has a high-level authorization for the "Japan Plan", and it seems that it is no big deal to dispatch a batch of artillery.

However, Jia Feiji knew that her identity was more sensitive, and she was somewhat afraid to agree to the transfer of artillery, so she only expressed her agreement with Jinghua's plan to transfer [-] No. [-] guns and four No. [-] guns to the Shimadzu family, but she must first report to her husband Gao Yushi for approval.

Yoshihiro Shimadzu expressed his understanding and gratitude, and ventured to stay in Sakai Port waiting for approval.Therefore, Jia Feiji immediately sent a pigeon to send a letter to the capital to report the matter.Gao Wushi did not hesitate when he received the news, and quickly approved it, but with a restriction: [-] No. [-] guns were allocated directly to the Shimadzu family, and four No. [-] guns were temporarily transferred together with the artillery crew members, and they had to be returned after the war.

The reason he gave was that the No. [-] cannon was easy to operate and quick to train, so the Shimadzu family could keep it.However, the operation of the No. [-] gun is very complicated, maintenance is difficult, and the gun crew training is not easy, so it needs Jinghua to send people to operate it, and it is useless to leave it to the Shimadzu family after the war.

Of course, having said that, Yoshihiro Shimadzu certainly knew that the reason for this was that Jinghua would not allow the Shimadzu family to master such a giant cannon as the No. [-] Cannon—he had seen the power of this thing in North Korea.Yoshihiro Shimadzu knew that he could not ask for this thing, so he fully agreed.

But what Shimadzu Yoshihiro did not expect was that Shimadzu Tadahiro felt that this battle had a lot to do with his prestige, and he didn't even want to wait for this little time. He decided to bypass Shiwachi Castle, Nono Miya Castle, and Yasuyo Castle, and sent a surprise army deep into the enemy's territory.

According to Shimadzu Tadahisa's deployment, Toyohisa Shimadzu continued to attack Shiwachi Castle, Kitago Tokihisa continued to attack Nonomi Valley Castle, and Chojuin Morijun attacked Yasuyo Castle, but they were all feint attacks, just for show, to contain the defenders in the city. The real attack can wait until the artillery arrives.

The task of raiding the capital was entrusted to the young old Naka Hirata Masune. Shimadzu Tadahiro personally led Hirin Hisamasa, Shinna Tadamoto, and Tanegashima Hisashi as successors and stationed in Jomanji Temple.

But he never expected that Ijiin Tadashi had expected that the Shimadzu army might raid the capital, and had already prepared for it, setting up an ambush at a place called "Otofang Maru" in the northwest of the capital.

Hirata Zengzong has advanced his army so far, and the capital is close in front of him. He thinks he has a plan, and he can't help but feel secretly happy.At this moment, the ambush soldiers ambushing on both sides of the road suddenly broke out, and a burst of iron artillery brought down many unsuspecting soldiers of the Shimadzu Army rushing forward.Hirata Zenmune's army went deep alone, not knowing how many ambush soldiers there were, fearing that the rear route would be cut off, he quickly ordered the troops to retreat.

Suddenly, many soldiers in Shimadzu's army didn't know what happened. They thought it was the defeat of the former army, and suddenly the whole army retreated.The Yijiyuan army pursued closely, and even Yijiyuan Zhongzhen in the capital also went out of the city to join the pursuit team.Hirata Zenmune was so embarrassed that he even had to hold a long spear himself, and under the cover of several apprentices, he managed to fight his way out.

Seeing Hirata Masune retreating in defeat, Shimadzu Tadahito was furious, and ordered Shinna Tadamoto, Tanegashima Hisashi and others to drive the army to counterattack.Xinna Zhongyuan was injured in his right leg during the Battle of Yanwu City in the 14th year of Tianzheng (1586), and became disabled. This time, he could only sit on the "banyu" and ask people to carry it to command the battle. He has lost the bravery of the past.On the contrary, Tanegashima Jiushi's Iron Artillery Squad has high morale now because of the replacement of Wanli Type [-] muskets, and thanks to the large number of people, they repelled the pursuit of the Yijiyuan Army.

Now it was the Shimadzu army's turn to pursue. The Ijuin army retreated while fighting, and retreated to a place called "Komatsuo", where they encountered defenders who came to support from Katsuoka Castle and Kajiyama Castle.With the back-up, the Yijiyuan army became hardened all of a sudden, and they fought evenly with the Shimadzu army. The two armies did not retreat until night fell.

In the battle that day, the Shimadzu Army killed more than 200 people and suffered numerous injuries, while the Ijuin Army killed only 80 people.Shimadzu's army, with four or five times the absolute superiority of troops, actually achieved such a result, which really caught Shimadzu Tadahiro's surprise, and it is no wonder that he became angry from embarrassment.

On the South Road, the Shimadzu Army also hit a snag.Shimadzu Tadacho besieged Sueyoshi Castle for a month without any progress.He also sent Yuei Yamada to attack the Ministry of Finance City, but failed to capture it.Shimadzu Yoshihisa was unable to go out in person due to his poor health. He heard that Shimadzu Tadatoge's battle was unfavorable, and he was very anxious. While sending a messenger, Shigemasa Ijichi, to the Ministry of Finance to supervise the battle, he asked where Jinghua's artillery had been transported.

Under the urging of Shigemasa Ijichi, Yamada Yuei launched several attacks on Caibu Castle, but they only lost soldiers in vain, and Caibu Castle remained unmoved.

However, the news from Jinghua is not bad, and it is expected to reach the front line in three or four days.

A big battle is about to usher in the high... water dynasty.
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Thank you book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your support, thank you!
Thank you book friend "2736" for your monthly ticket support, thank you!
PS: The child is on summer vacation, and was asked by his family to take him out to play for a few days, so it is not easy to update, so this chapter is a two-in-one chapter, close to ten thousand words.Now that I'm home, the next update will be normal.

(End of this chapter)