different warring states of japan

Chapter 2146 The Sheep Leading the Wolves

Kuroda Kotaka fulfilled her promise and made the Kyushu lords check and balance each other, making them no longer able to resist the rule of Ichijo Hideyoshi, but her ability made Ichijo Hideyoshi even more fearful.

At this time, facing Hideyoshi Ichijo's request for advice, Kuroda Kotaka was no longer willing to show his edge.

If the water is full, it will overflow, and the monthly profit will lead to loss.

It's not that Kuroda Kotaka didn't do enough in these years, but that he did too much. Instead of gaining Hideyoshi Ichijo's trust, this made Hideyoshi even more wary of him.

At this time, Kuroda Takataka had already established a firm foothold in Kyushu, and his family assets of nearly 200,000 koku had made him one of the most prominent daimyo in Kyushu.

At this time, there was no need for her to continue to express herself, but instead she had to conceal her edge.

In response to Hideyoshi Ichijo's question for advice, Kuroda Kotaka kept avoiding the question and asked again.

"The Saint has taken down fifteen daimyo families in one fell swoop this time. How will their territories be arranged?"

There was a flash of displeasure in Hideyoshi Ichijo's eyes, but he still spoke patiently.

"Akechi Mitsuhide said to surrender to Tamba Province, which was already her territory.

After Hatano Hideharu passed away, the Hatano family no longer lived up to its former prestige. This time, Akai Naomasa was purged again, and the Tamba samurai family was left leaderless.

Akechi Mitsuhide took the opportunity to join forces with Hosokawa Fujitaka to appease the surrendered samurai while eliminating the rebellious samurai.

This time, Tamba Province was completely swallowed up by the Akechi and Hosokawa families.

Since the Battle of Sasaki-Oda, Takashima County in Omi Province has been led by Isono Tomomasa, and local samurai have all submitted to Sasaki.

After the Isono family was purged, Yoshikane Sasaki ordered the Kyoto garrison commander Otani Yoshitsugu to move into Takashima County to pacify the local area.

If things go as expected, Otani Yoshitsugu will replace Isono Umamasa and be granted a fiefdom.

As for the other small households, there are many vacancies after the cleaning. The details will be sent later. You can check it yourself. "

Kuroda Kotaka nodded and said.

"This time, Amago Yukimori took the lead in offending others, but the ones who got the benefit were Akechi Mitsuhide and Hosokawa Fujitaka. After this cleansing, Tamba Province is no longer a nominal vassal, but truly belongs to Shiba."

Ichijo Hideyoshi nodded.

This young and reckless man, Yukimori Amago, was not only famous in Kanto, but was also known in Kinki for his impulsiveness and recklessness.

Taking advantage of the opportunity when Amago Yukimori was threatening with a knife with a gloomy face, Akechi Mitsuhide played the good guy behind the scenes. The Tamba samurai, who were severely hit by the purge, were simply unable to resist the solicitation of Hosokawa Fujitaka.

Tamba Province was originally the territory of Hosokawa, and the domestic samurai had close ties with the Hosokawa family.

Although the Izumi-Hosokawa family is not the main Hosokawa family, but a wise bird chooses the right tree to roost in. Seeing that the Sasaki god is very powerful, there is no harm in following the descendants of the Akechi and Hosokawa families.

As the Hatano and Akai families fell, local samurai families flocked to join the new lords.

After Akechi Mitsuhide eliminated a few of his opponents, this gateway to the west in Kinki completely surrendered to Sōma.

Niwa Yukimori did all kinds of things that offended people, but all the benefits were taken by others.

Ichijo Hideyoshi sighed.

"Otani Yoshitsugu has made a name for himself. I wonder how Fujido Takatora feels if he knows about this."

Hideyoshi's sister, Ichijo Hidenaga, served as the general-in-chief and was fighting on the peninsula. As a general under her command, Fujido Takatora naturally also made achievements on the peninsula.

However, no matter how hard she tried, her status and position could never catch up with those of her former colleagues.

Maeda Toshitsugu, Otani Yoshitsugu, and Fujido Takatora were originally the earliest aides to Sasaki Yoshikane.

If Fujido Takatora had not been blinded by greed and was determined to leave the Sasaki family, his status now would not be lower than that of Otani Yoshitsugu.

As a branch of the Shiba gods and the future family of gods, Maeda Yoshitsu naturally has a noble status in the Shiba theocracy.

And Otani Yoshitsugu has worked very hard over the years and made a lot of contributions. In the future, when the Sōma clan power is divided, he will definitely be ranked first.

No matter how hard Todo Takatora worked in the Ichijo family, he was just a retainer of Ichijo Hidenaga. In terms of status, he could not be considered a close and direct retainer of Ichijo Hideyoshi, and his room for advancement was limited.

If Sōma had taken over the world, Fujido Takatora, the idiot who jumped out of the team midway, would have been nailed to the pillar of shame in history and laughed at for ten thousand years.

Even Hideyoshi Ichijo couldn't help but sigh for her. What was this guy thinking at the time? Now he must be regretting it so much, but he still has to pretend to be loyal.

Kuroda Kotaka looked at Ichijo Hideyoshi and said solemnly.

"The plan of joining forces with Sōma has failed. In this case, we can only continue to borrow money from Sōma Tsuchiya to purchase supplies and use the output of Sōma's territory to help you conquer the peninsula. There is no other way." A trace of displeasure flashed in Hideyoshi Ichijo's eyes, thinking to himself, don't I understand about borrowing money? If I can only solve the problem by borrowing money, why would I come to you for advice?

What Hideyoshi Ichijo hoped was that Kuroda Kotaka would come up with another brilliant plan to relieve his worries.

Cross-sea warfare is extremely costly, and borrowing money to fight a war seems feasible, but the hole will become bigger and bigger until it becomes unsustainable.

After all, it was impossible for Ichijo Hideyoshi to go to Sasaki Yoshikin to borrow money himself. The tacit understanding between the two parties was that the samurai under Ichijo would borrow money in their own name.

The two lords, Yoshikin Sasaki and Hideyoshi Ichijo, pretended not to know on the surface.

This mess will no longer be able to be concealed one day, and then it will be the clarion call for Spoelstra's final battle.

Hideyoshi Ichijo did not want to escape this outcome, but supplies were easy to borrow but manpower was not easy to dispatch.

The Eastern Island Kingdom stood idly by during the conquest of the peninsula, continuously extracted war dividends with loans, and refused to provide manpower support, making even Hideyoshi, who had been demonstrating smoothly, feel the strain.

Hideyoshi Ichijo couldn't help but worry, once the Celestial Empire joins the war, will the war still be so smooth?

Kuroda Kotaka saw Hideyoshi Ichijo's predicament but pretended to be ignorant.

Kuroda Kotaka was already a local lord, so she no longer needed to try so hard to perform like before. She actually had more room for maneuver than Ichijo Hideyoshi.

In the military feudal system, it was rare for the local military families to be uprooted by force.

Even if Sasaki Yoshigin conquered the world, with the status of Kuroda Kotaka as a daimyo of 170,000 koku, as long as he did not offend the saint too much, the most he would get is a reduction in his fiefdom, but he would not be killed with a single hammer.

The same was true for the other samurai under Hideyoshi Ichijo. Only Hideyoshi Ichijo, who was born into a low-class family, could not escape the fate. Her final outcome was either to win the world or the death of her entire family.

From Kuroda Kotaka's perspective, with his obedience and merits, if Hideyoshi were to gain control of the world in the future, he would naturally follow suit.

Even if Ichijo Hideyoshi was afraid of him, the reward based on merit was for the military families of the world to see. As long as he kept a low profile and behaved himself, Ichijo Hideyoshi would not be able to kill the Kuroda family, and at most he would be alienated from them and have his fief reduced.

Now, Hideyoshi is borrowing funds to develop his own business. If the conquest of the peninsula ultimately fails, the samurai under Hideyoshi Ichijo will owe the Sasaki family a debt that they will never be able to repay.

Hideyoshi Ichijo was aggressive and aggressive, and Nishijima was bankrupt. She had no choice but to make a final effort, but she was unlikely to defeat the saint.

But from the perspective of local samurai, Hideyoshi Ichijo's defeat may not be the end of the samurai in Nishijima Province, but may instead be a new opportunity.

Since everyone couldn't pay back the money to the Spoelstra family and couldn't beat the Spoelstra family, it was only natural for them to just surrender.

It is difficult for the Chinese people, who are accustomed to dynastic centralization, to understand foreign feudal systems, such as the process of England and Scotland forming the United Kingdom.

Although the King of Scotland had obtained the throne of England, the relationship between the English and Scottish nobles was not harmonious.

When did Scotland truly recognize England's sovereignty and be willing to form the United Kingdom? It was after the Scottish nobles went bankrupt!

The Scottish nobles coveted the profits England had made during the Age of Exploration, so they formed their own company and wanted to try their luck at sea. However, they were not as successful as others, and they were left with a lot of debts and were on the verge of bankruptcy.

In the end, it was England that forced the proud Highlanders to bow their heads by helping Scotland pay off its debts, ending their unyielding struggle for thousands of years.

This was a typical feudal victory, a form of surrender that the people of the Celestial Empire could not understand.

  Shouldn't the entire family of the loser be killed? Why doesn't the winner kill the entire family of the loser, but instead help the loser pay back the money?

This method is also effective in island societies where military fiefdoms are established.

Not only Kuroda Takataka thought there was no problem, but the samurai of Nishijima Province who surrendered to Ichijo Hideyoshi also did not think there was a problem.

Everyone followed Ichijo Hideyoshi to get rich, but if the Ichijo family really collapsed, the family would immediately scatter like monkeys when the tree falls, and few loyal followers would follow Ichijo Hideyoshi to die. Instead, they would kneel down and lick the saint.

They would ask the saint to forgive their debts, and then vow to repay the saint's kindness for generations to come and be loyal to the descendants of Shiba.

Just as Hachiman Tainiang rewarded the Sakato Hachihei clan, the Sakato Hachihei clan swore to be loyal to the direct line of the Kawachi Genji for generations.

An oath can be a worthless piece of toilet paper, or it can be a contract observed from generation to generation. The key lies in whether the changes in the political situation are worth everyone's continued compliance.

Therefore, Kuroda Kotaka dared to pretend to be ignorant and perfunctorily answered Hideyoshi's question for advice.

Because in the past, Kuroda Kotaka had no right to negotiate conditions, but now as a powerful local daimyo, she is qualified to show off her skills.

This is also the most helpless thing for Hideyoshi Ichijo. Although he became the leader of the court nobles, the elder of the Fuji family, and the regent.

But she is not a true noble. She has neither the thinking nor the blood of a noble.

Hideyoshi Ichijo is like a sheep among a pack of wolves. No matter how smart and heroic she is, she is still a sheep at heart and cannot overcome her sheep instincts.

Hideyoshi, who broke through the ceiling in the turbulent times and turned from a pariah to a ruler of the world, had an unspeakable discord with the traditional samurai.