Chapter 2181 There is no shortage of excuses for war
The next day, the Haesuka main formation.
Hachisuka Masakatsu came back from outside the formation with an angry look on his face. After shielding the left and right, he said angrily to Inada Uemoto who was following him.
"It's too much to bully others! It's too much to bully others!
When I went into battle, this little girl was not even born yet, how dare she humiliate me like this!"
Inada Zhiyuan, however, was completely unable to empathize with his master and praised him directly.
"His Royal Highness Yuigahama Yoshinao is able to point out shortcomings in front of the battle at a young age. His righteousness is awe-inspiring. He is worthy of being a descendant of a saint."
Hachisuka Masakatsu's eyes turned red. He looked at the old sisters who were naysayers and held back his anger.
"She didn't just humiliate me, she humiliated all of us!"
Inada Zhiyuan said expressionlessly.
"I feel ashamed to say that the island country has raised us to adulthood, but we have been unable to calm down the troubled times, causing all people in the world to fall into endless hell.
Your Highness Yuigahama Yoshinao is right, we have helped the tyrants commit crimes and committed countless crimes. We should have woken up long ago and turned around."
It was so confusing that Masakatsu Suga was old enough and the city was deep enough. At this moment, his face turned red and green with anger, and finally he squeezed out a sentence through his teeth.
"How much money have you deposited in Shiba Tokura? How much real estate have you bought in Shiba? How many Hokuriku stocks have you invested in? Why do you speak so much for the Shiba family!
That brat is deliberately humiliating us. Where is your pride as a Ji warrior!
Could it be that for the sake of some extraneous wealth, you don’t even care about the most basic dignity of the Wu family?
You should know that if you humiliate your ministers and die, do you still recognize me as the governor of the family?"
Inada Uemoto sneered, she stared at Hachisuga Masakatsu and said.
"A little bit of extraneous wealth... Do you still remember that we old sisters put most of the little wealth we have accumulated over the years in Spurring? I thought you had forgotten it a long time ago!
If Guan Bai is defeated, the saint will at best send us to another place.
But if the saint loses, Mori, Otomo, Shimazu and the others will cancel the money they owe Shiba Tokura.
Even Guan Bai herself was in debt. She wished that Si Bo Tucang would not exist and all the Si Bo family's wealth would be wiped out.
But what about us! Who are we?
We have fought for half our lives, shed blood and shed tears, and managed to save a little money. We want to provide for ourselves in old age and leave something for our family. Why is it so difficult!
If Guan Bai wins, most of the sisters' wealth will be wiped out! You know this very well!
I have long advised you to surrender, but you have refused to agree. Now that all the descendants of the Sibo family are in front of you, why are you still hesitating!
It's too late, but it's not an act of justice, but a forced surrender in order to survive, and the treatment is very different."
Hachisuka Masakatsu had a sullen face.
"So, the price that Maeda Toshiie has offered you is such that you can forget about the sisterhood between us."
Inada Zhiyuan had a cold face.
"It's not much, just 10,000 shi of food stamps. As long as the other sisters are willing to do anything, they will all be rewarded.
Maeda Toshiie-sama took out a total of one million koku in food stamps and gave them free of charge to the old Owari warriors who were willing to maintain peace and love.
As long as you surrender, everyone will have a share.
I might as well tell you that the sage has issued an order to Master Chang'an of Shiba Tucang, instructing Tucang to reduce the debts of all surrendered samurai families, and the relevant shortfalls will be filled by the finances of the Siba family as appropriate.
Humiliation, hehe, I don’t think so, and neither do the sisters. We just think that His Highness Yuigahama Yoshinao gave us a slap in the face and scolded us to wake us up.”
Hachisuka Masakatsu's face was sickly red, as if bleeding was about to come out. For a long time, she was like a deflated rubber ball, unable to wave her hand and say.
"You go down first. I understand. The negotiation is over here. I won't argue with children."
Inada Zhiyuan bowed slightly, turned around and left.
Watching Inada Uemoto's figure leave the main formation, Hachisuga Masakatsu breathed a sigh of relief and whispered to himself.
"Guan Bai, Guan Bai, I have tried my best. Every day I can delay it is worthy of our many years of friendship."
Hachisuka Masakatsu seemed angry, but in fact he was just using his intense emotions to divert the attention of his subordinates and prevent the sisters from overturning the table for a showdown.
Behind her anger is an extremely sad sober calmness, and she doesn't know how many days she can fool herself by doing this.
That bastard Toshiie Maeda is so rich! He just knows how to spread money to confuse people and instigate his opponents’ subordinates to win anyway!
And the saints...can it be true that surrendering to oneself can relieve debts anyway?
Hachisuka Masakatsu's eyes became erratic.
In order to support the war on the peninsula in recent years, the Haizuka leaders have borrowed a lot of money, and they are also overwhelmed by a large amount of debt.
If it can be reduced...
Hachisuka Masakatsu felt that her long-standing loyalty to Ichijo Hideyoshi was wavering. It wasn't that she didn't want to be a consistent loyal minister, but it was because the Shiba family had given her too much.
———
Hachisuga Masakatsu thought that he could bear the humiliation and bear the heavy burden, and live up to his master and his ministers. However, in the eyes of Uesugi Yoshikage on the other side, her forbearance was simply unreasonable and devoid of any femininity.
In the palace, Yuigahama Yoshinao happily boasted to his two sisters.
"That old guy who doesn't know how to praise, just said a few nonsense words over and over again, saying that Guan Bai went to Luo just to argue with the saint, and asked Zhu Ji to get out of the way and not to cause any disputes.
I pointed at her nose and scolded her, but she didn't even dare to say anything back, hahaha, eldest sister and second sister, is this called being ashamed of oneself and doing it in front of others?"
Uesugi Yoshikage and Takeda Yoshinobu looked at each other speechlessly, both smiled bitterly and shook their heads.
Neither of them expected that a veteran with such meritorious service as Hachisuka Masakatsu would have no temper at all, and would refuse to fight back even when being scolded by a child.
Takeda Yoshinobu sighed.
"If you don't know how to use idioms, don't use them blindly. This should be called mature and prudent. Masakatsu Hachisuga is a great person."
Uesugi Yoshikage looked at Yuigahama Yoshinao with an incomprehensible expression. This sister still hasn't come back to her senses. She really thought that she was a messenger of justice, taking advantage of morality and scolding an old woman to shame.
Rubbing his temples, Uesugi Yoshikage felt a little angry. This old ghost, Masakatsu Hachisuka, refused to take the bait. What should we do next?
You can't be unknown and fight for the sake of fighting. If word spreads, you will be laughed at.
Uesugi Kagetora, who was sitting down, saw Uesugi Yoshikage distressed and interrupted.
"Hasuka Masakatsu is old. She has an empty reputation but is timid and afraid of getting into trouble. The provocation method is useless against her. We might as well just take action directly."
Takeda Yoshinobu shook his head and said.
"No, we are just reinforcements now. Mr. Otani Yoshitsugi who is stationed at Fushimi Castle is the garrison of Kyoto. We have no right to launch an offensive.
It doesn't matter if you are forced to counterattack and be knocked down. If you take the initiative, it will be difficult to explain afterwards.
After all, it was Ichijo Hideyoshi who started this war, and she must bear the responsibility for destroying the peace.
It is still reasonable for a legion to march to Luo and have friction with other Wu clan leaders.
But Kyoto is the most benign place, and the eyes of the martial arts all over the world are watching. Without a justifiable excuse, we cannot take the initiative to start a war, and it will be difficult for Otani Yoshitsugi-sama to explain."
Uesugi Kagetora shook his head, Kansai people are like ink. If this were placed in Kanto, they would usually find reasons to throw dirty water at the other side after the war, and start fighting first.
Seeing that Takeda Yoshinobu was in distress, Kosaka Masanobu, who was sitting at the bottom, smiled slightly and said.
"It's not difficult to start a war, but I don't know if His Highness is confident of winning."
Uesugi Yoshikage looked at the famous general of the Takeda family and bowed slightly.
"Please enlighten me."
Kosaka Masanobu pointed at the map hanging next to him and said.
"After taking Yodo Castle, Ichijo Hideyoshi was integrating logistical resources, preparing to attack the Fushimi Toba defense line, and sending vanguards to test it.
Hachisuka Masakatsu was not the only vanguard sent out, there were also two vanguards of one legion testing along the Tomi no Mori and Senryo pine respectively.
Tomi Mori, the pioneer, poses a great threat to us.
Like Masakatsu Haesuga on the other side, the pioneer of Tominomori is also a direct descendant of Hideyoshi, Masanori Fukushima.
Once Fukushima Masanori is allowed to pass through Tominomori smoothly, arrive to our south, and get in touch with Hachisuka Masakatsu on the other side, we will form a pincer attack on the Rikyu Palace where we are.
Defense is never passive. In order to prevent the enemy from easily surrounding us and weakening our defense line, we must take action.
Strategic defense does not exclude tactical offense, and I believe Lord Yoshitsugi Otani will also understand our actions."
Kosaka Masanobu's words were reasonable and well-founded, and he immediately elevated Uesugi Yoshikage's personal calculation to the overall strategic consideration. Uesugi Yoshikage was stunned for a moment.
If you don’t say that you are still old, Kosaka Masanobu has followed Takeda Shingen and conquered all directions and has seen many bad things. Compared with the juniors here, she is the real bad guy.
Uesugi Yoshikage's little plan to provoke the generals was completely unnecessary in the opinion of Kosaka Masanobu. The reasons were easy to find, so you could fight if you wanted to.
Ichijo Hideyoshi was preparing to attack Luo at Yodo Castle, so he must send a vanguard to test the strength of Toba Fushimi's defense line and find weak points to break through.
Hachisuka Masakatsu took the Toba Street west of the Kamogawa River and headed north, while Yokoojinuma in the south was sandwiched between the Kamogawa River and the Uji River.
There are two ways to bypass Yokodaijinuma. Go to the Kamogawa River and pass through the Tomi no Mori, and go to the Uji River and pass through the Senryo Pine. Hideyoshi would definitely send someone to clear the route.
As for Fukushima Masanori passing through Tominomori, it is equivalent to taking the east bank route of the Kamogawa River. Going northeast, you must pass Toba Rikyu Palace.
Ichijo Hideyoshi may not let Fukushima Masanori take the initiative, and his troops may just be here to investigate the route situation.
But Yoshikage Uesugi was in the Toba Imperial Palace and was being attacked by others. There was nothing wrong with having complicated ideas.
She can maintain defense strategically, take the initiative to attack tactically, and fight back the opponent's temptations.
From the perspective of the overall interests of the Toba Fushimi Defense Line, organizing the enemy to conduct effective reconnaissance is a reasonable military behavior.
Even if Uesugi Yoshikage is really eager to grab credit, with this fig leaf, Otani Yoshikage can't say anything. He might even have to smile bitterly and praise Uesugi Yoshikage who is actively defensive.
As for the saint... he has selfish motives in arranging for his daughter to perform meritorious deeds. As long as the reason is sufficient and outsiders have nothing to say, the saint will only say that his daughter is great and does very well.
Kosaka Masanobu's words made several juniors nod their heads.
Uesugi Yoshikage was overjoyed and simply agreed.
"Send an envoy to report to Lord Yoshitsugi Otani of Fushimi Castle that a regiment of Suga Masakatsu's troops has arrived on the west bank of the Kamogawa River, facing our troops across the water, and is ready to move.
An army from the south, Fukushima Masanori's troops, came day and night, intending to pass through Tomino Forest and form a siege and pincer attack on our Toba Rikyu Palace.
In order to ensure the safety of Toba Palace and to ensure that there are no loopholes in Toba's defense line, our department is bound to launch an active defense strategy and take the initiative to attack the invading enemy!"
Uesugi Yoshikage glanced at the women present, the gloom in his heart was swept away, and he laughed loudly.
"Princes, please follow me to defeat Hoshizuka first, then attack Fukushima, and together we will win the first victory in the first battle!"