Since the war on the peninsula began, Ichijo Hideyoshi has been sitting here, allocating military resources to support the frontline operations of the army commanded by Ichijo Hideyoshi.
At this time, it was late autumn, and as the weather turned colder, the consumption of materials required for cross-sea operations became even greater, which already made Ichijo Hideyoshi feel tremendous pressure.
And news came from behind that made her feel extremely disappointed.
Ichijo Hideyoshi handed the document in his hand to Kuroda Takataka and said.
"Take a look."
Kuroda Takataka bowed slightly, took the information with both hands, and looked at it at a glance.
Ichijo Hideyoshi sighed.
"Spo Yiyin really dares to take action.
He actually used some rumors obtained by Tobita Shinchi as evidence to uproot fifteen local daimyo including Akai in Tanba Province and Isono Kitanomi in one fell swoop.
There were nearly a hundred powerful warriors in the area implicated, and thousands of people committed seppuku. It was such a ruthless method, and I was not afraid of ruining my reputation as a saint and benevolent."
Ichijo Hideyoshi said he was shameless, but in his heart he was very envious.
Shiba Yiyin has stabilized his political power through the Grand Council and the Provisional Shogunate. He can weaken and train the samurai under his command through various means without worrying about backlash.
And what about Ichijo Hideyoshi? The local powerful feudal lords had their own thoughts, and they were not of the same mind as hers. She was staring ahead with one eye and guarding the rear with the other. She was really tired.
Kuroda Takataka sighed after reading the information.
"The saint is decisive and worthy of his reputation."
Ichijo Hideyoshi snorted and said.
"He is wise, but our plan to encourage the East Island countries to conquer the peninsula has completely failed.
After this purge, Sibo's military family will never have the courage to contact the people I sent again, and the military burden of conquering the peninsula will be borne entirely by us.
I admit that I underestimated the economic cost of cross-ocean operations. Fortunately, the war went smoothly. We can collect some supplies locally on the peninsula to supplement military supplies, so we should be able to survive the winter smoothly."
Kuroda Takataka asked.
"I heard that the request for help from the monarchs and ministers of the peninsula has been responded to by the Celestial Empire. The troops of the Celestial Empire will soon enter the peninsula to fight?"
Ichijo Hideyoshi couldn't help laughing.
"We don't need to worry about the Chinese troops and horses for the time being. It's ridiculous to say this, but it's also the help of the peninsula's monarchs and ministers.
In order to allow the Chinese Empire to send troops as soon as possible, the fleeing monarchs and ministers of the peninsula patted their chests to ensure logistics and military supplies, so that the Chinese army would have everything they needed after entering the peninsula.
But in fact, they were just showing up empty-handed and had nothing prepared.
When the Chinese army arrived at the border of the peninsula, they found that there was no military supply guarantee. The army had stopped moving forward and was waiting for dispatch from the rear.
As autumn turns to winter, it is difficult to travel on the frozen soil in the north, so it is not easy to allocate military expenses.
I have ordered the front army to use this winter to strengthen the city defenses, and wait until next spring to teach the Chinese army a harsh lesson.
This is thanks to the incompetence of the peninsula’s monarchs and ministers, who bought me a lot of time and disrupted the arrangements of the Celestial Empire.”
Kuroda Takataka listened to Ichijo Hideyoshi's words, while repeatedly looking through the information in his hand, and finally asked.
"Who was responsible for the purge of the Sibo family this time?
Since Hatano Hideharu was killed, Akai Naomasa of Tanba Kingdom has become the leader of the local samurai family. Akechi Mitsuhide's entry into Tanba Kingdom will also ensure the interests of Hatano, Akai and other local samurai families.
Kita-Omi's Isogan Masaru is a fierce general who has gone through various disputes such as Asai, Rokkaku, Oda, and Shiba, and he still stands firm to this day.
This time, both the Akai and Isono families were completely captured. Who was so cruel and decisive, not afraid of causing a backlash?"
Ichijo Hideyoshi smiled.
"Who else could it be? Of course it would be the Nizi family.
Nizi Xingsheng was determined to avenge Nizi Shengjiu, return to the Western Kingdom, and revive Nizi. He regarded the Maori family as his mortal enemy.
There is a peacemaker within the Shiba family. If they want to join forces with us, they must put aside their hatred for the Maori family before they can jointly send troops to the peninsula.
Nizi Yukimori is the person in Shiba's family who is most opposed to the two sides joining forces. Now that there is an order from the saint, she will naturally clean up the peacemaker and never leave a single possibility."
Kuroda Takaka nodded.
"I see."
Ichijo Hideyoshi narrowed his eyes. She recruited Kuroda Takaka this time not to ask her to say so, but to hope that she would come up with ideas for her.
The cost of a cross-sea expedition to the peninsula exceeded Ichijo Hideyoshi's imagination. As long as Ichijo Hideyoshi could do it on his own, she would not want to let the samurai family of Higashishima country get a share of the pie.
It was because he couldn't afford it that he thought of looking for foreign aid. Now that foreign aid was cut off, Ichijo Hideyoshi needed a new plan, so he thought of the poisonous man Takataka Kuroda.
It must be said that Kuroda Takaka did a really good job in Kyushu. She fulfilled her promise and helped Ichijo Hideyoshi to manipulate the princes of Kyushu into the palm of her hands, and even caused the four Shimazu sisters to fall apart.
Ichijo Hideyoshi's conquest of Kyushu seems simple, but in fact the various reasons are very complicated.
Originally, the Mori family and the Otomo family were competing for Kitakyushu, but the pressure from the Oda family forced the Mori family to face Oda.
The Otomo family, which was under great pressure, decided to go all out to expand southward. As a result, the ship capsized in the gutter and was almost killed by the four Shimadzu sisters.
In order to prevent the Shimadzu family from dominating Kyushu, the Otomo family and the Mori family fully supported Ichijo Hideyoshi and launched the Kyushu strategy. This shows how much the southwest princes feared the four Shimazu sisters.
But the four Shimazu sisters who were so powerful were crippled by Takaka Kuroda's conspiracy.
Among the four Shimazu sisters, the third, Shimazu, is the most resourceful and she is also a peacemaker.
In Shimazu's view, since the Shimazu family was no match for Ichijo Hideyoshi, they should surrender as soon as possible in order to retain their territory to the maximum extent possible.
Her idea was reasonable, but everyone in the Shimazu family was already dazzled by the prospect of conquering Kyushu, and she simply could not hold back the main war faction.
As a result, the Shimadzu family lost all their chips and eventually retreated to Southern Kyushu, forced to surrender.
The fourth among the four sisters, Shimazu Iehisa, brought the greatest trouble to the Kyushu expedition. He killed many people in several battles and even killed the heir of the Chosou Gabe family.
After the war, various forces under the Ichijo family disliked Shimazu Iehisa, so Kuroda Takataka took advantage of the situation and poisoned Shimazu Iehisa who came to see Ichijo Hideyoshi, creating a headless case.
The Shimazu family had so many enemies that the Shimazu family themselves couldn't figure out who killed her. The Shimazu family, who had just surrendered, had no right to get angry. In the end, they had no choice but to announce that Shimadzu died of illness.
This incident made the third Shimazu Suijiu very dissatisfied. In addition, his legitimate daughter was killed in the Kyushu expedition, which made this wise man among the four Shimazu sisters change from the peace faction to the war faction.
After the war, Shimazu Hiroyuki secretly opposed Ichijo Hideyoshi and instigated his retainers to launch a coup, but he did not know that his arrangements were all being monitored by Kuroda Takataka.
Shimazu's plan was exposed and he failed to escape for a long time, so his pursuers took his head.
Under Takaka Kuroda's plan, Ichijo Hideyoshi killed the third and fourth of the four Shimazu sisters, and then appeased the eldest, Shimazu Yoshihisa, and allowed her to continue to manage the Shimazu territory.
As for the backhand, the military power of the Shimazu family was handed over to the second eldest brother, Shimazu Yoshihiro, and Shimazu Yoshihiro was asked to lead troops to the peninsula and make achievements.
Due to the deaths of the third and fourth elders, the relationship between the eldest and the second eldest brother was already at odds. Coupled with the division of territorial governance and military power, the two sides were even more at odds.
The Shimazu family has become a political system with two houses standing side by side. From the four Shimazu sisters working together to conquer Kyushu, it has become a suspicion between the two sisters who share the same bed but have different dreams.