Great name!

Chapter 261 Akechi Mitsuhide disguised as a woman
Akechi Mitsuhide interrupted, naturally for his own little thoughts. After all, he had just formed an alliance with Hashiba Hideyoshi not long ago, intending to compete for the position of commander of the army to attack Tamba.

By pushing the Oda clan to attack the Mori clan, Nobunaga will inevitably discover the importance of Tamba, and then he can go and ask for orders.

"If we allow the Mori family to attack the Harima provinces, approach the capital, and connect with Honganji, it will be too late to regret it."

Nobunaga ignored Akechi Mitsuhide's little thoughts. He still looked at Kuroda Kanbei with no extra expression on his face.

Kuroda Kanbei took a deep breath and stood up. He walked slowly forward and sat down when he was only three steps away from Nobunaga. Then he took out a map from his arms, opened it, and placed it in front of Nobunaga.

Nobunaga still said nothing, staring at Kuroda Kanbei.

Kuroda Kanbei pointed at Harima and said, "If we want to attack the Mori clan, there are two roads, Sanin and Sanyo. The Sanyo road is flat, and the Himeji Castle of our Kuroda clan and the Gojo Castle of the Kodera clan are on the Sanyo road.

In addition, Harima is on the coast, while Himeji Castle and Gokaku Castle are located in Harima. If Nobunaga-dono sends a general to lead troops to occupy here, he can suppress the sea route on the Sanyo side, and not only cut off the connection between the Mori family and Honganji from the land, but also from the sea.

In addition, please allow me to introduce the situation in Harima. Except for my Kodera family who are willing to submit to the Oda family, the lords such as Akashi, Takasago, Fukuhara, Kamitsuki and others have temporarily submitted to the Mori family because of the reputation of the Mori family.

It's just that these princes were afraid of the power of the Mori family. There was still Akamatsu in Harima, and Besso was in a neutral position.

If Nobunaga could send a capable and brave general to Harima, these princes would eventually submit to the Oda family.

I will use my eloquence to convince all the lords of Harima to offer Harima to Nobunaga-dono! "

Kuroda Kanbei looked at Nobunaga ambitiously and said loudly: "If we can control Harima, defeating the Mori clan will be a piece of cake!"

Nobunaga had a stern face. He looked at the ambition in Kuroda Kanbei's eyes, stood up and picked up the sword beside him.

This made everyone's heart rise to their throat.

What's going on? What Kuroda said makes sense. Why did the head of the family draw his sword?

Kuroda Kanbei was also frightened, but he didn't dare to move. He just looked up at Nobunaga.

Nobunaga drew out his sword and took a look at it, then he put it away and handed it over, saying, "Here I give it to you."

Kuroda Kanbei was stunned for a moment, then took the famous sword given by Nobunaga with both hands.

Nobutora smiled and said, "This is a good sword, Kanbei."

The famous sword that Nobunaga gave to Kuroda Kanbei was called Yakiri, and the name has a history.

It was probably during the Eiroku period, Nobutora couldn't quite remember, but one day he and Nobunaga were on a secret visit and saw a teahouse on the road, so they went in to have some tea.

As a result, the tea shop owner sold inferior products as good ones, and Nobunaga was furious and scolded the tea shop owner. However, the tea shop owner thought that Nobunaga was an ordinary samurai, so he did not take Nobunaga seriously and spoke nonsense.

Nobunaga drew his sword immediately, and the abbot fled under a shed. Nobunaga slashed the shed with his sword and actually cut it off, so this sword was named "Yakiri".

At this time, Monkey Hideyoshi ran in, bent down and mixed into the hall, and sat at the end.

Nobunaga sat back in the main seat and shouted, "Monkey, why are you here so late? If you don't tell me a reason, I'll beat you to death."

Hashiba Hideyoshi hurriedly saluted and said, "Ha, I went to Seta to deal with the repair of the pond bridge. The official was not able to do a good job, so I went to blame him."

“Can it be completed this year?”

Nobunaga asked directly.

Hashiba Hideyoshi immediately replied: "It can definitely be done this year... not just this year, it can be done in three months at most!"

Nobunaga raised the corner of his mouth slightly and said, "Monkey, remember this for yourself. I don't like people breaking their promises."

"Ha! I will definitely finish it within three months!"

Hashiba Hideyoshi hastened to assure.

Then, he looked at Kuroda Kanbei and said hurriedly, "You are Lord Kuroda from Harima Province, right? Oh, your coming is a great joy for my Oda family.

If your lord, the Kodera family, can join my Oda family, then my Oda family can take over Harima, and it will be easy to deal with the Mori family."

Kuroda Kanbei was flattered to see that the family elder, Hashiba Hideyoshi, was so kind to him.

Hashiba Hideyoshi still had a happy look on his face, and he stepped forward and said, "I am Hashiba Chikuzen no Kami Hideyoshi, the lord of Nagahama Castle."

"Oh, it's you. I heard about your reputation in Harima when you fought to the death at the Battle of Kanegasaki."

Kuroda Kanbei quickly praised him, which was considered a courtesy.

Hashiba Hideyoshi waved his hands quickly, his mouth almost stretched to his ears, and said with a smile: "No, no, a mere name is not worth mentioning."

Nobunaga interrupted, "Okay, Kuroda Kanbei, your idea is similar to mine. I will arrange for the monkey to go to Harima. You must assist him wholeheartedly when the time comes."

Hashiba Hideyoshi was so excited, now he could also be the commander of a legion!
Ke Xinhu spoke, and he said directly: "The western and central regions are divided into two routes, Sanyin and Sanyang. Chikuzen-no-kami will lead the troops to Sanyang, and the master of the family can send another person to Sanyin.

In the Mori family, Kobayakawa Takakage is in charge of Sanyo, and Yoshikawa Motoharu is in charge of Sanin. The two of them lead the Mori family. Our army attacks Sanyo and Inner Mongolia at the same time, and the two of them will inevitably quarrel over which one to reinforce.

If the Mori clan splits into two factions, over time our army can defeat them one by one and destroy the Mori clan.”

When Nobunaga heard this, he thought it made sense, so he asked, "Who are you going to let go?"

Xin Hu shook his head and said, "Everything will be decided by the master of the family."

Hashiba Hideyoshi below prayed in his heart that it would be best to send Akechi Mitsuhide, so that the two of them would at least not have too many conflicts.

At the same time, he was filled with hatred. Tsuda Nobutora's words directly weakened half of his power as the legion commander!
Oda Nobunaga thought about it and said, "Then I will transfer Takenaka Hanbei to be the assistant commander, and let Nobunaga be the deputy commander of the monkey and be in charge of the Sanyindao."

Oda Nobunaga felt a little unhappy. He looked down on Hashiba Hideyoshi, but he had to be his deputy general. It was really disgusting.

But when he saw that his brother Xinhu didn't say anything, he didn't refute it either.

As for Nobutora, what else could he say? In order to cut off the monkey's power, he lost the power of Takenaka Hanbei.

But Xinlong finally got what he wanted, which was what he should do as a brother.

Hashiba Hideyoshi had no choice but to agree, and Oda Nobunaga also agreed with a helpless look on his face.

Xinhu still had a smile on his face, but it was only for the sake of appearance.

When Nobunaga saw that the discussion was almost over, he waved his hand and said, "That's it."

As soon as Nobunaga left, Nobunaga hurried over to Nobutora and asked, "Brother, what should we do now?"

Xin Hu said with a straight face: "Why are you in such a hurry? Send people to collect information about Shanyin Road first. That's what you need to do now."

Oda Nobunaga saw that his brother was in a bad mood, so he lowered his head and left. At this time, Kuroda Kanbei came up and saluted, saying, "Thank you for your help, Lord Jingzhao Yin."

Xin Hu smiled and said, "You don't have to rush to thank me. The main reason you can be appreciated by the master of the family is that you have your own strength.

Conquering the Mori family is a big battle. If you can do well, the head of the family will definitely not treat you unfairly. The day when the Kuroda family will rise to prominence is not far away."

Kuroda Kanbei also said with a delighted look on his face: "Thank you, Lord Jingzhao Yin for your advice. In fact, I originally wanted Nobunaga-dono to send Lord Jingzhao Yin here."

Hashiba Hideyoshi interrupted at the right time and said, "Lord Kuroda, Lord Jingzhao Yin has a more important task. I will invite you to have a drink later, and we can have a good chat about what to do next. How about that?"

Nobutora waved his hand to Kuroda Kanbei and said, "Go ahead, we can talk again later."

Only then did Kuroda Kanbei leave with Hashiba Hideyoshi.

Nobutora then left the Honmaru with a stern face.

With today's test, Oda Nobunaga began to check and balance him.

He didn't have many Yoriki around him, and as a result, Takenaka Hanbei was taken away.

What if he recommends Mao Li Shengqing and others next time? Which power will be reduced?

Xinhu returned home feeling a little depressed.

He had just rested for a while when Honda Masanobu came to his study and brought him a letter.

Honda Masanobu said mysteriously, "Master, this was sent by a ninja. He was found by the ninja group, and he left after dropping the letter."

Xinhu became interested. He immediately opened the letter and smiled, "Interesting, really interesting."

"Get ready. I'm going to sneak into the castle town to meet someone tonight."

Honda Masanobu immediately notified Ishimaru Hachiro, and then the ninjas brought out a puppet to pretend to be Nobutora's back, while Nobutora changed his clothes, walked into the secret passage and left the study.

At night, Nobutora arrived at the Biwa-ya in the castle town under the cover of the ninjas.

Nobutora asked the ninjas to go in and check first, and then Ishimaru Hachiro reported to Nobutora: "Master, everything is normal in the Biwa house."

Xinhu then quickly walked into the Pipa room, went up to the second floor, and entered the room agreed upon by the writer.

As soon as Nobutora came in, the man took off the kosode he was wearing, revealing his signature topknot with a bald spot in the middle.

This is none other than Mitsuhide Akechi dressed as a woman!

Akechi Mitsuhide bowed and said, "Your Excellency Jingzhao Yin has the honor to come here, I am very grateful.

I apologize for my previous offense to Lord Jingzhao Yin, and I hope Lord Jingzhao Yin will forgive me."

Nobutora looked at Akechi Mitsuhide with great interest and chuckled, "Why would Lord Akechi do this? You asked the people from Mino-dono to deliver a letter, so it must be more than just an apology, right?

You are also dressed as a woman, what is the point of this?"

Akechi Mitsuhide quickly poured a glass of wine for Nobutora and said with a smile: "Don't misunderstand, Lord Jingzhao Yin. I am also trying to keep it secret. This time I met with Lord Jingzhao Yin, in addition to resolving the previous misunderstanding, the rest is that I want to cooperate with Lord Jingzhao Yin."

"Cooperation? What can we cooperate on?"

Nobutora did not take the glass of wine from Akechi Mitsuhide.

Akechi Mitsuhide didn't care, he continued to explain: "Speaking of which, although I am from Mino-dono, I am actually also from Young Master Nobutada.

Lord Jingzhao Yin is Lord Xinzhong's father-in-law. We support Lord Xinzhong together. You and I are not enemies, but friends."

Xinhu snorted coldly and said, "Master Akechi, please stop talking nonsense. Don't I know your Mino faction? You think I am a thorn in your side, don't you?"

Akechi Mitsuhide quickly explained: "We were wrong before, and now we are willing to make peace with Lord Jingzhao Yin."

Xinhu waved his hand and said, "If you have something to say, just say it."

Akechi Mitsuhide put down his wine glass and said, "Lord Jingzhao Yin, in fact, you and I both understand that the previous fight was intentional by the master of the family, and I was also forced to do so.

Now that the Oda family wants to fulfill its ambition of spreading military power throughout the world, it has already determined three legion commanders. The first one is you, Lord Jingzhao Yin, followed by Lord Shibata and Lord Hashiba.

With my talents, I am no worse than Lord Shibata or Lord Hashiba, and I am more than qualified to be the commander of an army.

Today, I am speaking frankly to Lord Jingzhao Yin, hoping that Lord Jingzhao Yin can support me in my bid for a position as a corps commander."

Today, Akechi Mitsuhide saw the advice that Nobutora gave to Nobunaga, which made him realize that if he wanted to become a legion commander, Nobutora was a hurdle that he could not overcome. For this reason, he could only ask Kicho to write a letter to Nobutora and come out to talk.

Although Xinhu looked like he was thinking, he was actually very happy.

He was thinking before that the current strength of Akechi Mitsuhide was average, and he was a little worried about how to make Akechi Mitsuhide stronger so that he would have the strength to barbecue.

As a result, Akechi Mitsuhide came to find him himself, which was like a pillow given to someone who was sleepy.

However, Nobutora would not easily agree to Akechi Mitsuhide, otherwise this guy would think there was something fishy.

Xin Hu deliberately said: "Why should I make peace with you? Who knows if you will go against me after you become stronger?"

Mitsuhide Akechi said quickly, "Your Excellency Jingzhao Yin, you should know that behind me is Mino-dono. How dare I make fun of the followers of Mino-dono?"

Xinhu thought about it and said, “Well, I will consider this matter, but it depends mainly on your sincerity.

But you have to remember, even if you and I meet tonight, we will remain the same as before, and I don’t want to attract the attention of the head of the family.”

Akechi Mitsuhide hastened to assure.

Nobutora took a look at the kosode on Akechi Mitsuhide and couldn't help but find it funny. Akechi Mitsuhide was really crazy for the position of legion commander.

However, he was still surprised that Akechi Mitsuhide came to him for reconciliation.

But even so, Nobutora would not change his plan. Akechi Mitsuhide would eventually die, and this was the only way he could go.

After the two of them reached a preliminary agreement, they did not stay long. Nobutora left the Biwa-ya and stayed in an ordinary inn temporarily. He secretly returned home the next morning.

When Xinhu returned home, he was really tired and yawned continuously. After all, he was a middle-aged man in his forties, not as young as he used to be.

Time flies so fast. More than 20 years have passed and things and people have changed.

(End of this chapter)