Chapter 225 The General Who Eats Zongye

Akechi Mitsuhide lived in Antu City for a few days, he had been looking forward to the arrival of the emissary, but the emissary did not show up for a long time.Therefore, he asked his son-in-law Akechi Hideman (Samanosuke) to stay at Azuchi Castle, and he temporarily retreated to Sakamoto Castle and began to collect information from various sources. In fact, the wise plan of action did not go as smoothly as imagined.Originally, the Maori army actively responded to his call and launched a fierce attack on Hashiba Chikuzen in the Chinese area.Unexpectedly, the news he got was just the opposite. Mao Li shook hands with Zhuqian to make peace;

Akechi Mitsuhide killed Nobunaga and Nobutada, and when he occupied Azuchi Castle, he said: "We must enter Beijing immediately and gain a firm foothold in the capital."However, even Hosokawa Fujitaka and Tsutsui Junkei had to leave him, which delayed his plan to immediately occupy the capital. Akechi Mitsuhide believed that they would not have any major problems, because Mitsuhide's daughter (later Galaxia, Mrs. Gracia) married Hosokawa Fujitaka's son and Ichiro Tadakashi, and Mitsuhide's younger sister married Tsutsui Junkei's first son. Another son-in-law of Akechi Mitsuhide is Oda Nobusumi, the son of Nobunaga's younger brother Nobuyuki, who is now stationed in Amagasaki.

Having such a kinship relationship made Mitsuhide live in Antu City temporarily with peace of mind, and planned to march towards the capital with great fanfare after seeing the imperial envoy. However, the information Guangxiu received disappointed him greatly.Among his relatives, Tsutsui Shunkei of Yamato was a bit unusual. Hideyoshi had already offered him a hand of persuasion, and he seemed very interested in Hideyoshi. "This is a matter of life and death." Mitsuhide had no choice but to send his 12-year-old second son, Akomaru, as a hostage. This young Akomaru is Jujiro who appeared in the drama.

Then the attitude of Hosokawa and his son was also a little abnormal.Because of Hideyoshi's ingenious propaganda, Luo Zhong Luo Wai immediately spread the news that "it is wise to crusade against the traitor who killed the lord", and the news spread more and more. "——Hashiba Chikumae has given up his wife and castle in order to suppress the traitor Mitsuhide, and is marching towards the capital!" "So, what is the traitor Mitsuhide doing now?" "——Guangxiu was terrified, and hid in Antu City and dared not come out. Anyway, the traitor still has a guilty conscience."

It is impossible for the ministers of the Guangxiu faction to send imperial envoys to Antucheng after hearing these discussions.Even then, the invisible tool of public opinion had considerable power. "Anyway, Mitsuhide's reputation is so bad, we must not get close to him easily." Said Hosokawa Fujitaka and his son Yoichiro Tadaoki. They discussed and decided: first send Mitsuhide's daughter Zhuzi to live in the mountains far away from the territory of Tango Miyazu, and then cut off her hair to express condolences to Nobunaga and his son. Just when Akechi Mitsuhide was anxious about the information, another bad news came.

This is another son-in-law, Oda Nobusumi, who was preparing to send troops to Shikoku during the Honnoji Incident, but was killed by Niwa Nagahide and Oda Nobutaka in Sakaiji. As a result, the three sons-in-law that Guangxiu had been relying on all along made him extremely disappointed.What is going on here?Looking left and right, I can't look forward to the emissary, but the sons-in-law leave him one after another.On the contrary, seeing Yuchai's army approaching the capital step by step. When Akechi Mitsuhide was at a loss, Akechi Hideman, who was staying at Azuchi Castle, came to Sakamoto Castle to ask Mitsuhide, "I have something urgent to discuss with you." He said in a busy manner.

At this time, Hideyoshi shaved his head and showed a strong appetite for chicken, duck and fish. "Seeing that Hashiba's army is about to join the troops of Niwa Nagahide and Oda Nobutaka in Sakai, they are coming from Yamazakiguchi to the capital. Please give orders as soon as possible!" Akechi Hidetoshi said to Mitsuhide. "Really, it's about to overwhelm?... Then we have to stick to Azuchi Castle and wait for the enemy to come before attacking." "This is natural, but Azuchi Castle is probably more dangerous. Because Hashiba's army made peace with the Maori army on the Chinese side before sending troops to march; and from Kaga's side, Shibayuki Katsuya from Etchu made peace with Uesugi's army and turned around to press down Come here. In this way, Azuchi Castle is being attacked by Shibata's army and Hashiba's army. So, if you want to hold on to the city... Do you think Sakamoto Castle is more suitable?" Xiuman disagreed that it was reasonable to hold on to Azuchi Castle.

After hearing this, Guangxiu's face suddenly turned pale.He is not a villain, but he has no courage or measure.On the contrary, he had a strong neurotic suspicion, which made him betray Nobunaga. "If you don't make a decision as soon as possible, the consequences will be disastrous. I didn't want to tell you that there is actually a powerful enemy in action." Akechi Xiuman urged Guangxiu to make up his mind early. "What, there is... another strong enemy? Then... then... who is it?" "Tokugawa Ieyasu who escaped skillfully from Sakai. He has safely returned to Mikawa, gathered troops in Mikawa and marched to Owari Tsushima. If they are ignored, they will attack Omi from east to west."

Mitsuhide silently counted his fingers—— Yu Chai's army advancing towards the capital step by step. Niwa Nagahide's army in Sakai. Shibata's army coming from Echizen. The Tokugawa army killed from Mino. ... With so many powerful enemies all at once, I can't compete with my wise army alone.No wonder Hosokawa and Tsutsui stepped on two boats!No, you can't just sit and wait like this! "Xiuman, just to be on the safe side, send two more envoys to Hosokawa's and Tsutsui's homes." "Have you made up your mind?" "Well, it will take some time for Shibata's army and Tokugawa's army to come here. We must first prepare to face Hashiba's army."

"So, are you going out of town to fight?" "Yes, fortunately, Katsuryuji Castle, which is closer to the capital Yamazakiguchi, is still in our hands. Send troops to Yodo Castle on the other side, and face Hashiba's army at Yamazakiguchi. You go and prepare immediately!" Such a decision is not planned in advance, but improvised, like soot that has been blown to the head and has to be dusted off.His focus, however, is extraordinary. If Hashiba's army enters Beijing by land, they can only take this Yamazaki street. There is no other way. Here is a mountain on one side and a river (Oyodo River) on the other. As long as you line up at the intersection of this narrow road, you want to break through the defense line and continue to advance. The Yuchai army must suffer great casualties.Only by defeating Yuchai's army here can the famous names from all walks of life cooperate with themselves.When Mitsuhide was about to return to Shimotoba after making a decision, his retainer Saito Toshizo dissuaded Mitsuhide.

"I think we should stick to Sakamoto Castle. If the enemy enters the capital without hindrance, they won't come to attack Sakamoto Castle. This is a strategy used by Mr. Big Kusu in the past." There is some truth to what the retainer said.Yuchai's army, who has been busy fighting all the time, will relax and prepare to take a breather and rest as soon as they enter the capital. What's more, there are countless women and wine in the capital, many interesting places to go, and the temptation of delicious food.Upon seeing this, the soldiers must relax their vigilance and weaken their will to fight.As the saying goes: the longer the birds in the forest, the better, the more delicate the birds in the house.If the morale of the Chikuqian army is sluggish before attacking them unprepared, there may be a miracle of resurrection. If it's just the battle itself, this is indeed a good plan, but for the current Guangxiu, this request doesn't seem to make much sense.Because Mitsuhide thinks that he has obtained the great cause of the world, how can he be afraid of a little Chikuzen?If you stick to the city without fighting a battle, you will be laughed at by the world. ... Therefore, Akechi Mitsuhide did not listen to the dissuasion of his retainers, and went to Shimotoba on the 11th to have the Yodo castle repaired immediately.Upon hearing the news, someone in the capital sent Guangxiu a gift. "I wish my lord the best of luck. This is something you can't sell, please taste it." What I brought was the summer specialty of the capital——zongzi.Mitsuhide was different from Hideyoshi, he politely came to the table outside the curtain to meet the gift givers. "Everyone is kind, I, Guangxiu, thank you." Guangxiu said, picking up a rice dumpling. "I heard that some people in the capital said I was a traitor. In fact, they didn't know that the eradication of the rebellious tyrant was entirely for the sake of the common people. There have been precedents in other countries. King Wu of Zhou killed the tyrannical King Zhou and relieved the people of poverty. Everyone You all know, right?" Guangxiu began to preach, and he was proud of being able to talk about King Wu of Zhou's defeating Zhou at once, which was also a big quirk of his.He was so excited, he was getting carried away with excitement.He forgot that the zongzi he was holding in his hand threw it into his mouth before peeling off the leaves. Everyone knows that no matter how powerful Guangxiu is, it is impossible to swallow the rice dumplings together.However, even the zong leaves were stuffed into the mouth in front of everyone in the capital. It would be inappropriate to spit it out again, and it would also damage the majesty of the general.He had no choice but to pretend to be nonchalant and started chewing the skin. People from the city who came to give gifts forgot what Guangxiu had said. They were only worried about whether he would be able to swallow the zongye, and they all held their breath and stared at him.