As soon as he returned to Honmaru, he met Kansuke Yamamoto. He walked over to him looking worried and said to him: "There is news from Suruga Country. A few days ago, the Imagawa family issued a mobilization order to Suruga and Toe.
Japan will again go to Mikawa Kingdom, and this will be the second Mikawa war since early spring this year."
"Imagawa Harubu is so anxious! He must be trying to calm down the civil strife in the Matsudaira family!" Kira Manshomaru sighed. Of course he knew this common sense. As a member of the Mikawa Kingdom who is pro-Imagawa, the role of the Matsudaira family goes without saying.
As for the metaphor, whether it was the Battle of Azozaka or the several battles of Anxiang Castle, the Matsudaira family served as the vanguard of the Imagawa army and charged into battle for the Imagawa family. Of course, it can also be understood as a high-level cannon fodder unit. At least until the Imagawa family completely pacified Mikawa, the Matsudaira family
The status of the family can be guaranteed, and the internal strife in the Matsudaira family must be eliminated.
"Yes! The chaos of the Matsudaira family will not help the rule of the Imagawa family. His Highness Imagawa Harubu should be planning to force the Oda family to hand over Matsudaira Takechiyo." Yamamoto Kansuke mentioned it, which reminded him of the Matsudaira family and the tanuki.
Known as Takechiyo, this boy is more than a year younger than him but has good luck. His grandfather has built a legacy that has been worked hard for generations, has the support of a group of his own clan, and has several loyal and powerful clan members.
Retainer base.
"The Matsudaira family doesn't seem to be doing well now. The people of Mikawa don't take their family seriously yet. Matsudaira Kiyoyasu, a reckless man who only knows how to fight, even offended his own people, let alone the people of the country who don't like him. Sure enough,
Once Matsudaira Kiyoyasu died, the entire Matsudaira family declined."
Kira Mansomaru was still in the mood to complain about the situation of the Matsudaira family, but unfortunately his good mood only lasted for a short while. Yamamoto Kansuke narrowed his eyes slightly and said: "This time, General Taiyuan Yuksai will serve as the military agent and lead the Imagawa family's army to station in Oka.
Sakijo, who has already been selected, Asahina Yasuno will serve as the deputy general, and Okabe Motonobu will serve as the leader of the Suruga main formation. He will command the Matsudaira army, which lacks a family governor, to participate in the battle."
"That is to say, the Imagawa family has already made a plan, right? No matter how we respond, the result has been determined. It depends on whether we will be toasted or punished." Kira Manshomaru sighed again. He found that in recent times,
I sigh a lot. Is this a sign of premature aging?
"Master, please make a decision as soon as possible!"
"What decision should I make? Surrender or fight, is there a third way?" Kira Manshomaru smiled bitterly. He was really unlucky as a lord. He had never left Nishi Mikawa since he was a child. He never caused trouble. During festivals,
He also goes to his own Bodhi Temple, Mixiang Anguo Zen Temple, to sing incense and pray for blessings, to pray for the happiness and peace of his parents in heaven, for the prosperity of the people in the country, for the success of the family business, and for the unity of the ministers, etc. He does all these things that the governor should do.
, but he still encountered a military disaster.
"Teacher, if we leave all our military forces under your command, how sure are we of defeating Taiyuan Xuezhai?" Kira Manshomaru looked at him hopefully.
It's a pity that the latter didn't seem to have much confidence. He smacked his lips and shook his head and said: "Based on pure battle, my Kira family, excluding the eight hundred ashigaru trained by my subordinates and the master's two hundred horsebacks, are comparable."
Outside the war, the military strength of the retainers cannot cause trouble to the Imagawa family at all. Three thousand five versus twenty thousand, I have no way to save the day!"
"There are also strategies. Suruga has always been rich, and the Imagawa family's financial resources are far better than mine. A popular proverb in the Ming Dynasty goes: Under heavy rewards, there must be brave men! The Imagawa family lures them with benefits and threatens them with threats. What can I do to stop them?
?" Kira Manshomaru is not the only one who is thinking. As his assistant and trusted general, Yamamoto Kansuke is also thinking hard.
"His Royal Highness Imagawa Harubu has reached peace with His Highness Hojo Sagamimomoru, and reached a preliminary peace agreement at Zentokuji Temple where Taiyuan Xuezai served as the abbot last year. There is no longer any need to worry about the two directions of Kai and Sagami, and the south bordering the Toe River
Shinano is in the hands of His Highness Takeda Daisen. If we, the Kira family, want to fight against the Imagawa family, we can only rely on the power of the Oda family, but does Oda Nobuhide have the ability and courage?"
"The rich man from Owari has become a toothless tiger since his disastrous defeat at the Battle of Azukizaka last year. It is said that more than half of the people died in that battle. Every household in the four lower counties of Owari mourned. At the beginning of the year, the Anxiang Castle Battle
In the battle, the Oda family only sent 2,000 reinforcements. Compared with last year’s majestic battle at Okazaki Castle, they were like a featherless phoenix and not as good as a chicken.”
Kira Manshomaru was very disdainful of Owari's military strength. The soldiers of Owari Kingdom in Tokaido were not called weak soldiers in vain. This was all because Owari protected the Shiba family. In order to cross the river,
In order to achieve their own interests, the Shiba family and the Mikawa Kira family fought several battles against the Imagawa clan.
Every time, the Owari Shiba family was beaten to disgrace, and the Kira family's Mikawa army was also defeated. Owari country is a representative of experts in civil war and outsiders in foreign wars. In the past two years, Owari's rich locals have been killed in Imagawa.
, in the hands of Saito, not only has his arrogance gone, but his status is no longer as stable as before, and he is almost like a phoenix that only loses its hair.
"It's true that good people are bullied. It seems that there is no future if we manage the territory honestly. However, our Kira family does not have much military strength. If we call for military service without caring about hard work, not only will we not be able to win the Imagawa family, but we will also lose the accumulated experience of ruling Nishi Mikawa for generations."
What should I do if I can't defeat you after fighting, and I feel unwilling to surrender?" Kira Manshomaru said goodbye to Yamamoto Kansuke in distress. When he returned to the castle tower, the sky was getting dark, and he sat alone.
Watching the moon in a daze on the terrace.
"Look carefully, there seems to be a big aperture! It seems that according to legend, the moon halo is a bad omen, and I don't know what bad things happened somewhere." Kira Mansumaru was lying on the terrace looking at the round moon.
He fell asleep unknowingly, and was pushed awake again after an unknown amount of time. Aju's gentle voice came to his ears: "Your Highness, please don't sleep here. It's easy to catch a cold. Your Highness should pay more attention to take care of yourself. For the sake of the Kira family,
, also for Her Royal Highness the Princess.”
"Well, I remember it! By the way, did I fall asleep? I was looking at the moon just now!" Kira Mansomaru rubbed his head, stood up unsteadily with Kikuji's support and walked into Tongma. It turned out that Ah
Aju had already folded the bedding for him, and thoughtfully placed a glass of water on the corner of the tatami. Because Kira Manshomaru's yang energy was very strong and he was prone to thirst at night, Aju would prepare such a glass of cold boiled water every night.
Kikuji took off her clothes for him, covered him with a quilt and walked out of the room with small steps. When she knelt down and was about to close the door, Kira Mansomaru whispered: "Thank you, Kiku!"
"This is what Ah Ju should do!" Ah Ju's soft and reserved smile evoked his memories. In his memory, his mother also had such a beautiful smile. It seemed that all women in Kyoto were made of water, and his mother was like this.
A gentle and melancholy woman, Aju is also like this. Apart from being busy taking care of him all day long, she just stares at the flowers and plants in the small garden in a daze. Those are the flower seedlings that her mother planted in Himemaru when she was still alive.
It's a pity that she passed away before she could appreciate it.
After all, the paper door closed. After the sound of Aju's light steps gradually disappeared, Kira Mansomaru suddenly felt very uncomfortable in his heart, as if there were some things he didn't want to say. He murmured to the moon: "Aju, I will definitely go to Kyoto.