In the early morning of May 11, the tenth year of Tianzheng (1582), Yu Qiuping was awakened from his sleep by Mori Ranmaru.
"What's wrong?" The sleepy Yu Qiuping saw the anxious look on Mori Ranmaru's face and instantly lost his sleep. "Is there something urgent?"
"The ninjas in Kyoto are anxious to come back to find His Highness." Mori Ranmaru pointed in the direction outside the door.
"I'll get up right now." Yu Qiuping's heart sank when he heard this, and he hurriedly got up. There are detailed regulations on the transmission of intelligence in Yu Qiu's home. Only the highest two levels of intelligence have the right to disturb Yu Qiuping's rest. Since
Mori Ranmaru woke himself up now, and the news that came must be extraordinary.
"The Oda family's official report in Kyoto said that Kobayakawa Takakage attempted to assassinate him when he met at the Oda Main Hall yesterday evening. After the failure, he was killed on the spot. Before nightfall, he died in Rokujo Kawara. The head has been confirmed, and it is undoubtedly Kobayakawa Takakage."
The news brought by the ninja was more extraordinary than Yu Qiuping imagined. The huge amount of information made Yu Qiuping overwhelmed for a while.
"Continue to investigate, and immediately send the news back to the Crow Headquarters in Hanoi, show it to Mr. Amano, and then bring Mr. Amano's judgment to me." Yu Qiuping felt that he was completely unable to figure out the joints inside, and hurriedly reported to Liubei
Amano Keide from Hanoi asked for help. But he instinctively realized the meaning behind this matter and the possible chain reactions that would occur. If he waited for the ninjas to run back and forth and collect further intelligence, it might be too late. He must do it as soon as possible.
Come up with countermeasures.
"We must first clarify what happened, which ones are true and which ones are false..." Yu Qiuping muttered to himself, sitting in front of the desk and constantly stirring his hair.
Kobayakawa Takakage... is dead, that's for sure. However, Yu Qiupei doesn't have time to feel sad about the death of this great samurai. He needs to figure out the situation immediately.
How he died is unclear.
The announcement from the Oda family was that Kobayakawa Takakage intended to assassinate Oda Nobunaga. This announcement would spread throughout Kinki and Kansai in about two days, and would naturally reach Sanyo Road.
But was Kobayakawa Takakage really executed for assassinating Oda Nobunaga... How is that possible? Would that gentle Confucian really do such a thing? Did he pretend to be persuaded by Yu Qiupei and pretend to run away in exchange for getting close to Oda?
Tian Nobunaga's chance? But if you want such an opportunity, isn't it the same as going directly to negotiate? Why ruin your own reputation first and shake the military morale of the Maori family?
If Oda Nobunaga can really be killed, it might be able to shake the situation of the Oda family and provide a glimmer of hope for the Maori family. After all, the current political power of the Oda family is based on the military power of the Oda family and the personal power of Oda Nobunaga.
In terms of ability, the foundation is not yet solid. Each legion commander is powerful, and the world is filled with newly surrendered daimyo and displaced ronin. In addition, as the heir, Oda Nobutada is still in Kanto... If Oda Nobunaga is now
If he is suddenly killed, the world may really fall into turmoil - just like the Honnoji Incident in the history of previous lives. However, considering that Oda Nobutada in this life cannot be killed at the same time as Oda Nobunaga, he has the qualifications
The ability to regain control of the situation.
But instead of thinking about what will happen after the assassination of Oda Nobunaga, it is better to consider the possibility of Kobayakawa Takakage's assassination being successful? Kobayakawa Takakage has never been good at martial arts, and he is already fifty.
At the age of 10, he may not even be able to defeat Yu Qiupei. Moreover, Oda Nobunaga has also paid a lot of attention to his own security after the last series of assassinations. Any envoys or foreign guests who see him will be informed by him in advance.
After a body search, there was absolutely no way he was carrying a weapon. How could Kobayakawa Takakage have the confidence to kill Oda Nobunaga with bare hands in front of so many guards?
Thinking of this, the truth has emerged in front of Yu Qiupei's eyes - the so-called Kobayakawa Takakage's fake surrender and assassination must be nonsense. It should be fabricated by Oda Nobunaga. Kobayakawa Takakage did not deceive Yu Qiupei.
, but acted in accordance with the agreement with Amame Akihei. In this case, why did Oda Nobunaga kill Kobayakawa Takakage?
But thinking of this, Yu Qiuping suddenly worried about another thing - if Kobayakawa Takakage was really killed, had he been tortured before that? If so, would he reveal his relationship with
What was the content of Tsuneki Ikeda's conversation with him in advance? Given Kobayakawa Takakage's character, this should not be the case. And even if he leaked it, it would not be convincing if such an unsubstantiated conversation came from the mouth of an enemy official like him.
The power will probably be regarded as a desperate struggle to sow discord. As long as Yu Qiupei and Ikeda Hengxing insist that there is no such thing, it will not be a big problem.
After figuring out this joint, Yu Qiupei arranged for someone to remind Ikeda Hengxing to unify his confession while continuing to think about why Oda Nobunaga killed Kobayakawa Takakage. To understand this, we must first imagine what Kobayakawa Takakage's death will be.
What changes did the situation bring? Among other things, Oda Nobunaga's murder and notification helped Kobayakawa Takakage restore his reputation. Kobayakawa Takakage instantly turned into a traitor seeking glory from a seller and turned into a martyr who sacrificed his life. And in the Mori family
The original condemnation of him will probably turn into regret and grief as he suddenly realizes.
Could it be that Oda Nobunaga wanted to use this move to revive the sluggish morale of the Mori family? If the Mori family had a slogan of revenge for Kobayakawa Takakage, it would surely be able to unite many people. After all, Kobayakawa Takakage is famous in the Sanyo area.
No one can match them. The united Maori family will naturally resist longer, thus gaining time for the daimyo from across the country to arrive in Kansai.
If Oda Nobunaga murdered Kobayakawa Takakage in a very short period of time because of this consideration, it would be an excellent strategy. Then the plan planned by Akihei Ame and Kobayakawa Takakage to quickly defeat the Mori family would also fail.
.Moreover, Oda Nobunaga's murder was a two-sided strategy. Even if Amakihei announced the truth through ninjas and told the Mori family that Kobayakawa Takakage was not assassinated alone but was murdered after surrendering, it would still not be possible to destroy them.
Fighting spirit - because the people of the Mori family will only resent Oda Nobunaga even more, and feel that he will not even let go of those who take the initiative to run away, so who would dare to surrender?
Thinking of this, Yu Qiuping couldn't help but have a headache. No matter what he did, it seemed that he couldn't change the situation. Before he knew it, it was already dawn, and Yu Qiuping, who had been struggling for half a night, suddenly felt sleepy and felt more powerless.
Strong, it seems that we can only wait for the opinion given by Amano Keitoku. Yu Qiuping took two steps back and lay back on the bed. He closed his eyes and began to recall the voice and smile of Kobayakawa Takakage, whom he had only met once. He thought before he died
What will it be?
However, Yu Qiupei didn't have much time to be in a daze. Not long after, Asahina Taihei ran over and woke him up.
"What's the news this time?" Yu Qiuping glanced at his pocket watch.
It's his usual office hours.
"Your Highness, you can go and see by yourself." Yasuhei Asahina had obviously just come back and was still breathing. "Your Highness, Hashiba, killed all the soldiers and their families who were sent back from Tokura Castle, and their heads have been hung up in the waiting room.
It’s outside Nakatakamatsu Castle.”
After hearing the news, Yu Qiuping simply washed up and led his guards to ride to the hillside west of Takamatsu Castle in Bitchu. He saw that dozens of tall wooden stakes had been inserted in the direction facing the city gate.
There are more than a dozen heads hanging on each of the upper crossbars. The heads are still bleeding, and the grass underground has been dyed red by the blood. The Maori army at the top of Takamatsu Castle in Bitchu seems to have noticed this, too.
The Maori troops at the top of the city were very excited and were greeting the soldiers of Yu Chai Army with all the obscene words they could think of.
Yu Qiuping couldn't bear to take another look at those poor people, so he drew his horse and headed towards the coalition camp without saying a word. When he entered the camp, he found that Hengxing Ikeda and Hideyoshi Hashiba had already had a heated argument.
"That's the prisoner I captured. Did you ask me what I wanted before you, you stinky monkey? If you do this, you will completely ruin my reputation in the Western Kingdom. Who will dare to surrender to me in the future?" He was so angry.
The furious Ikeda Tsuneki pointed at Hashiba Hideyoshi's nose and cursed him, not caring about Hashiba Hideyoshi's increasingly ugly face and the embarrassed retainers and guards around him.
"Who are you scolding?" Hashiba Hideyoshi was obviously very irritated by the long-lost name "monkey". He stood on tiptoe and swung a piece of paper in his hand, and cursed back to Ikeda Tsuneaki with his face to face, "My lord's order."
, haven’t you seen it? My lord ordered me to kill all the prisoners immediately and hang them outside the gate of Bitchu Takamatsu Castle. Is it possible that I can’t carry out this extremely urgent order?”
"Why aren't you so enthusiastic about other orders? Why did you execute this one so quickly?" Ikeda Hengxing spat on the ground angrily, and then continued to curse, "Don't think I don't know what you are doing.
What is the monkey thinking in his mind? This Tokura City is close to your territory. You are eager to eradicate them. Then those places will naturally be yours! What did you do to the Nizi family, the Urakami family and the Uki family before?
, do you think we don’t know?”
"You need to spit on people!" Hashiba Hideyoshi was so scolded by Ikeda Hengxing that he almost got into a fight with Ikeda Hengxing. Several guards of Ikeda Hengxing and Hashiba Hideyoshi didn't know what to do, and they all looked at Yu Qiuping for help.
But the latter just stayed in place.
First kill the respected Takakage Kobayakawa, then kill the captives and their families, and then hang their heads outside the door...
With the help of Oda Nobunaga, let alone expecting the Maori family to quickly disintegrate, I am afraid that not even one person will surrender in the future. His plan to quickly defeat the Maori family has completely turned into ashes in just a few days.
It's in vain.
That afternoon, the ninjas who rushed back to Maple Leaf Mountain City came back with a secret letter from Amano Keitoku. In the letter, Amano Keitoku reminded Yu Qiupei to be careful about Oda Nobunaga killing prisoners, but it was too late. Soon after, when Kobayakawa
After the news that Takakage failed in his assassination and was executed, and that Hideyoshi Hashiba killed and captured Sushou outside the castle, spread throughout the Western Kingdom, the wealthy Maori family who had been secretly collaborating with the Oda family gave up all illusions of surrendering and surviving. They cut off all ties with the Oda family.
With the slogans of "avenging His Highness Kobayakawa" and "living up to His Highness Takakage's expectations", the Maori family warriors faced the Oda family's attack with the same vigor as when they defended Yoshida Koriyama Castle.
Chapter completed!