Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 102

On April 11rd in the 1583th year of Tensho (23), Shibata Katsuya's ambition came to an end with the bang of Kitanosho Castle.

As an old-school Warring States samurai, Shibata Katsuie's character and ability are beyond doubt. As an important support of the Oda system, he is absolutely qualified to become the leading army daimyo.

But he can't tolerate the big names of other countries like Hideyoshi, and treat the people in the territory equally. If he wants to move forward and touch the world's authority, he will be beyond his power.

With the demise of this important opponent, Hashiba Hideyoshi's life has entered a new stage, and he is getting closer and closer to that position.

Hideyoshi did not waste time at Kitanosho, and led his troops to continue northward to attack the northern part of Echizen and Kaga the next day.

For Hideyoshi, at this time, he needs to race against time to absorb nutrients from Shibata, the former giant.

Because Ukita's army was too downsized and there were many wounded soldiers, Hideyoshi was left at Kitanosho Castle for repairs.

Hideyoshi's assessment of Etsuhoku and Kaga was very quick. On April 4, Hideyoshi accepted the surrender of Etsuchu's leader Sasa Naruma at Etsuchu Toyama Castle.

Previously, Hideyoshi had united with Uesugi Kagekatsu of Echigo, and promised him the land of Etsuchu to send troops to contain Shibata Katsuie. Tian Zhong's family launched a rebellion in Echigo again, so Uesugi Jingkatsu had to return to Echigo to assess the Shinbata Rebellion.

Hideyoshi will send Ishida Mitsunari and Masuda Nagamori to report the news that he has pacified Hokuriku to Uesugi Jingsheng, and blame Jingsheng for not sending troops to Etsuchu before, which violated the agreement of the two alliances, and the alliance was terminated.

At this time, Uesugi Jingsheng faced two choices:

One is to choose not to continue the alliance with Hideyoshi, but at any time will be attacked by Hashiba Hideyoshi who has already occupied Hokuriku;

The second is to apologize to Hideyoshi and apply to continue the alliance, but the relationship between the two parties is not like the previous equal relationship. Hideyoshi will inevitably speak to himself, so Jing Sheng is in a dilemma.

He hoped that he could procrastinate and observe the situation before making a decision.

And when Hideyoshi met with Narumasa Sasasa in Etsuchu, he also promised Narumasa Sasas that he would take him as the vanguard and settle down the empty check that Echigo would distribute to him.

As the main supporter of Shigee Shibata, Masamura Sasaka blossomed and wrote to Shigee Shibata far north of Echigo, asking him to come and see Hideyoshi.

On May 5, Hideyoshi returned to Kita no Shojo and held a meeting to evaluate the crusade against Shibata Katsuie.

The first is the Andu ceremony as a vassal. As the head of Hokuriku, Sasa Naruma won the Andu of 30 shi after handing over his daughter as a hostage;
The second place was Maeda Toshiie, who was granted the title of Nanao Castle 20 koku by Noto;

No.3, Kanamori Nagachi, was granted the title of Yuechu Fuguangcheng + Kaga part 6 shi;

No.4, Buba Guangzhi, under the intermediary of Maeda Toshiie, obtained 33000 Shi Andu of Longmen Mountain City.

Regardless of other small wealthy families.

Afterwards, Hideyoshi began to reward ministers with meritorious service, and Hideyoshi's younger brother Hashiba Hidecho was the first to be rewarded.

Although the two had a quarrel over Miss Ashi during the Battle of Kita no Shojo, Hideyoshi is still very grateful for the help of this old brother.

Therefore, he was transferred from the city of Tajima with 6.5 koku to Echizen Kita's Zhuocheng, and obtained six counties of Dansheng, Azuba, Ono, Sakai, Yoshida, and Kinritsu, and the two counties of Hebei and Ishikawa (Kanazawa) in the north of Kagaga totaled 50 Wan Shifeng gave it to his brother.

In fact, Hideyoshi had talked to Hideyoshi before. He thought that Hokuriku needed a trustworthy person to guard him, so he asked Hideyoshi for his opinion.

The Xiu family thinks that Hideyoshi may want to transfer himself to Hokuriku to frighten Xiaoxiao, but the Xiu family has carried out reforms in the territory for so long, and they really don't want to rashly transfer to an unfamiliar place.

Therefore, Hideyoshi recommended Hashiba Hidecho to Hideyoshi to transfer to Hokuriku. Nothing can reassure Hideyoshi more than his own brothers.

Moreover, Hidecho has indeed been diligently helping Hideyoshi for many years. Previously, as Nobunaga's direct minister, because the elder brother Hideyoshi of the same family was the head of the army, Hidecho has been pressured by Nobunaga to reward him. Until now, it is still 6.5 koku , it is indeed necessary to give him a fief corresponding to his identity.

As the general on behalf of the battle of Jianyue, Hidecho did rely on his excellent command to keep the army from collapsing, and finally laid the foundation for Hideyoshi's counterattack.

So even though the two brothers had a very unpleasant fight because of Mrs. Ashi's affairs before, Hideyoshi still gave his brother a very high reward.

Hideyoshi in history is facing the threats of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobutaka at this time. At the same time, the Battle of Chidake was indeed a tragic victory. He did not have so much time to digest the fruits of victory in Hokuriku, so he had to choose to accept the local Oda family The allegiance of the old minister.

In order to keep them from resisting, Hideyoshi could only entrust Niwa Nagahide, the eldest brother of the Oda family, here and give him 90 koku of security, which was later increased to 102 million koku.

But, everyone, ask yourself, is Niwa Chohide's feats really worthy of such a large territory?

So after Niwa Changhide's death, Hideyoshi found a random excuse to reduce the Niwa family to 12 koku.

Hideyoshi originally wanted to convert Hokuriku into a naturalized state, but June 1585 was the most intense time for Hideyoshi to crusade against Hokuriku Sasaka and fight against Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Out of the idea of ​​stabilizing the Hokuriku daimyo, Hideyoshi could only pinch his nose again and choose Maeda Toshiie to manage Hokuriku. Perhaps his original idea was to be like Niwa Chohide, after Maeda Toshiie's death, he would find another stoner who would make a fool of himself. High paring.

It's a pity that he lived longer than him, and the former Hideyoshi needed to win over Maeda Toshiie to take care of his only son Toyotomi Hideyori, so Hideyoshi's plan was completely bankrupt.

It's just that the current situation is different from history. In history, the Yuxi family only had a territory of 45 shi, and when the master was weak and the ministers were strong, they could only become the soldiers of the Xiu family.

Today's Hideyoshi is backed by Ukido 70 koku, and created a brilliant victory in the Battle of Kidake with a small loss.

At the previous Cheongju meeting, he gained more right to speak than in history. Hideyoshi was confident that Hokuriku minister would be converted, so he adopted Hideka's suggestion and transferred Hashiba Hidecho to Kita no Shojo.

Beginning with Hashiba Hidecho's Tenling increase, everyone's competitive spirit was aroused. They wanted to know how much rewards the Ukita Hide family, who had won Chiyake's contribution and laid the foundation for Hideyoshi's victory over Shibata Katsuie, would get.

It's a pity that I disappointed everyone and didn't get any substantive titles. Maybe Hideyoshi himself felt that this was not enough to commend Hideka's achievements. He transferred 1/3 of the spoils obtained in this battle to Hideka. I asked for the arms part, so I got 1600 collars of various weapons and 600 iron cannons.In addition, there are 1 guan of copper coins and 1000 taels of gold and silver.

Sure enough, the most profitable business in the world is war money earned for nothing. With the frequency of wars in the Yuchai family, only successive battles and victories can keep this war machine running.

Although everyone was very puzzled, why even the Xiu family who became the first meritorious Yue Yue didn't get an entitlement, only a reward of money, but they didn't dare to raise this question on this occasion.

What's interesting is that Niwa Changhide was also arranged to be rewarded by the retainers. Based on Wakasa Kohama, he canceled the decision to transfer the title to Ise, and won the two counties of Echizen Tsuruga and Nanjo, and Jiangbei Ika and Asai. The total stone height becomes 25 stone.

Hideyoshi's behavior is actually using the huge amount of benefits to test Niwa Naghide's attitude. If he can accept the reward, it is tantamount to admitting that he is Hideyoshi's servant. On the contrary, Hideyoshi can also treat him in advance. guarded against.

It’s just that Niwa Chohide is not here at this time. As a prestigious daimyo in the Oda family, Niwa Chohide has never been Hideyoshi’s subordinate. The reason why the Battle of Mt. Because of the three mages.

After the Battle of Mt. Kidachi, Niwa Chohide did not participate in the conquest of Hokuriku, but chose to return to Azuchi to handle the government affairs of the Oda family. Perhaps he was only in Azuchi Castle at this moment. He was still the first head of the Oda family. Bar.

Since Oda Nobutaka, who is a rebellious minister, has not been evaluated yet, everyone knows that this is not the final evaluation, and Hideyoshi’s direct retainer awards have not been announced. Everyone knows that this award is just Hideyoshi’s redistribution of Hokuriku’s strength. .

Just when everyone felt that it was over, Hideyoshi said from the side, "Well, although he was very reluctant, Hachiro said that he would use his cheap work in exchange for the lives of the entire Sakuma clan. Since Hachiro said so, then "

Hideyoshi looked at Sakuma Shengmichi, who was sitting behind the Hide family, "Seimasa, you will be the head of the family, and you will have the 5 koku of the Daishoji Temple in Enuma County, Kaga."

Neither Ukita Hideka nor Sakuma Shengmasa thought that Hideyoshi would make Sakuma Shengmasa his own daimyo.

On that day, the Xiu family rescued Sakuma Shengzheng and confessed their feelings to him. Seeing this man who could be his own son, Sakuma not only defeated himself, but also understood his own suffering, and was willing to submit to the Xiu family's tent immediately.

Xiujia also told him very frankly that he could only give him about 1 koku of Andu, which was not 12:01 points smaller than his 30 koku territory in Kaga Komatsu, but Sakuma Shengzheng did not dislike it.

Now hearing that Hideyoshi arranged Sakuma in Kaga 5 stones, Hideyoshi and Shengzheng were a little surprised. Shengzheng had already served Hideyoshi as a courtier, so he looked at Hideyoshi and asked for his opinion.

Although the Hide family didn't quite understand what Hideyoshi meant, they still nodded and signaled Sakuma Shengmasa to accept the reward. Therefore, Sakuma Shengmasa became Hideyoshi's vassal, possessed the 5 koku security of Kaga Daishoji Castle, and became Hideyoshi The last person arranged for the retainers.

Don't underestimate the order of rewards. As Echigo's "rebels", Maeda, Narumasa Sasasa, Nagahito Kanamori, Mitsuji Fuwa all received rewards in the first act, which is similar to being forgiven by the king after offering captives.

And when Sakuma Yoshimasa was in the battle of Jianyue, Shibata Army's absolute spearhead was placed by Hideyoshi in the position of the minister from the daimyo's position to block it. Although Ishiko shrank, this is treating you as one of his own!Even if all the previous things are revealed.

Maeda Toshiie and the others looked eagerly at Sakuma Morimsa who walked to the middle and accepted Hideyoshi's reward.I can't help wondering, is Hideyoshi an O, the more he is beaten, the more he loves him?

It wasn't until the military discussion dissipated that Xiujia had the opportunity to raise his own questions to Hideyoshi.

Hideyoshi smiled and said, "I've thought it through clearly. Although it seems that I killed Shibata Katsuya as the biggest enemy of the Sakuma brothers, in fact, any of Shibata's former ministers may rebel, only their brothers will not betray me."

"I heard Hideka and your description of the Battle of Kiyama Castle, and I think that as the absolute spearhead of the Battle of Kidake, Sakuma Yoyomasa contributed a lot, but behind him, Maeda and other daimyos seemed to be outside the battlefield. "

"Sakuma Shengzheng is a samurai who inherits and repairs his heart, and Zuo Chacha betrayed his brother and Shibata Katsuie in Mushan. You say, compared to my upright victory over Xiu, Shengzheng hates me more or Zuo Zuo. "

"In that case, why didn't you seal him up in Hebei County, and directly contact Sasama Naruma and Maeda Toshiie as a barrier?" Xiujia continued to ask puzzled.

"Because he hasn't been tamed yet! Shengzheng is a fierce tiger. If you use it well, Hokuriku will be stable. If you don't use it well, Hokuriku will have to fight again. So I put him in Koichiro's territory, Let Koichiro look after him for me. So that he can only be used by me, and will not be influenced by Maeda and others."

Xiujia nodded if he realized something, but Xiuchang patted Xiujia on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't listen to what my brother said, he didn't say that yesterday. There is no increase in the title, and now I have to cut a piece of land to Sakuma, I am really sorry, so I arranged Sakuma to be in my collar."

Hideyoshi heard Hidecho's dismantling, and Hideyoshi quickly said, "Yesterday was yesterday, today is today, can't I understand this truth today?"

Xiuchang covered his mouth with a snicker and said, "I'm afraid that brother, you consulted the opinion of Guan Bingwei. These are what Guan Bingwei told you. You just got lucky yesterday, and you happened to seal Shengzheng in Dasheng Temple."

"Ah~ Koichiro, what nonsense are you talking about? Didn't you see that Hachiro is still here! See if I don't teach you a lesson."

Hideka looked at the two children in their 40s and smiled helplessly. Anyway, Hideka's Hokuriku Raider is over, and tomorrow he will go to Mino Battlefield to educate Oda Nobunaga His good son is gone.

----------------

Remarks: Due to the exam on the 28th and 29th of this month, I will ask for leave in advance and stop the update. Please bear with me.

(End of this chapter)