Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 500 The End of the Hojo Clan

In fact, Hideyoshi has expectations for Date Masamune's arrival, but Date Masamune seems to always use various reasons to shirk Hideyoshi's call.

At the beginning of February, Hideyoshi sent another person to inquire about his progress. At that time, the messenger came back and reported that Date Masamune had brought Mutsu Nihonmatsu Castle, and it was expected to arrive in Odawara on the 2th.

But at the end of February, the construction of the Ishigaki Mountain Castle was almost completed, and the messenger reported again that Date Masamune had just arrived at the Sannokan, and the Osaki family could not be found anywhere.

Hideyoshi has already given Date Masamune a big step, but Date Masamune's act of not giving any face made Hideyoshi very hurt.

You must know that there are nearly 30 civilian husbands on Hideyoshi's side, and the daily food consumption exceeds 1 shi. Even Hideyoshi can't bear the daily consumption.

Ishida Mitsunari had reported to Hideyoshi several times about the emergency of military rations, and Hideyoshi finally ordered to wait until March 3, and if Date Masamune had not arrived, he would not wait any longer.

However, Date Masamune still responded negatively to Hideyoshi's enthusiasm, which also made Hideyoshi dispel the last sliver of expectation. He asked people to cut off all the trees on Mount Xuanli, and completely displayed the outline of Ishigaki Mountain Castle under the city.

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Odawara Castle has been besieged for 11 months since the siege began in November.

In order to save water resources, even the Hojo clan was forced to take a bath only once a month. Although he had stockpiled food, the serious shortage of vegetables and meat made the Hojo clan look extremely haggard.

In order to boost morale, Hojo Ujimasa can only paint his face with makeup powder to cover up the fatigue on his face, and light up aromatherapy to cover up the sour smell on his body.

However, the smell of fermentation after not bathing for a long time, mixed with the smell of aromatherapy, makes the smell even more strange.

In order to maintain his superior image, he was even more afraid that even Patriarch Hojo's sloppy appearance would affect the morale of the army. He hadn't gone out for inspections for two months in a row, and only did it in the first two days after just taking a bath. Put on a show and boost your morale.

The current Hojo clan government has nothing to do with the Toyotomi army outside the city. He initially estimated that Hideyoshi would besiege the city for 2 to 3 months at most, but he has already besieged the city for less than half a year.

It seemed that it was already March, and spring plowing had begun in various parts of Japan, but the army outside the city had no intention of disbanding.

The long siege has exhausted the Hojo Clan's mind and spirit, and it has also made the soldiers in Odawara Castle, including the Hojo Clan, lose confidence.

This day, he nestled himself in the Royal Palace as usual, but he heard a shrill cry from outside, "Master Xiandian~!"

When he saw the source of the sound clearly, it turned out to be his close attendant Ogasawara Nagabo. He ran up to the Hojo Shizheng with fear on his face, and said out of breath, "Your Highness first! City. City."

Hojo Ujimasa, who was a little confused by his answer, reprimanded the long room, "What are you talking about, you calm down and talk to me."

But before he finished his words, there were bursts of rumbling footsteps in the distance. Judging from this movement, there were probably no fewer than ten people who came to see him.

"You can't go in, His Highness hasn't summoned you yet!" The attendants outside the door tried their best to stop the retainers who entered the palace, but they pushed them away roughly.

And the one who took the lead was Kenhide Matsuda, one of Odawara's writers and one of the judges.

Seeing that his retainers were so rude to him, Hojo Shizheng felt that his authority was being trampled on.

Hojo Ujimasa, who was nervous for a long time in the cage city, reprimanded Matsuda Kenhide: "Owari Mamoru, you are so disrespectful to enter the palace without my permission!"

Who would have thought that someone would not change his expression in the face of the Hojo clan's reprimand, and said to the Hojo clan, "Xiandian, go to the west to have a look. The Toyotomi family built a city on Mount Xuanli overnight, even the castle tower. All right!"

"What! That's impossible!" Hojo Clan, who was already nervous, even changed his voice after hearing the news. He screamed bitterly, accusing his retainers of lying to him.

Matsuda Kenhide sighed and said, "It's true, Xiandian. Now most of the soldiers in the city have seen that city, and are waiting for your explanation!"

"Ahahaha~ Do you also believe the story about coaxing children in One Night City?" Hojo Shizheng still didn't believe his old man's answer, waving his sleeves and striding out of the imperial palace, passing through a section of corridors to the courtyard facing west.

As soon as the originally majestic Hojo Ujimasa stepped out of the line of sight, the tense muscles on his face began to relax, and the movement of his feet became much smaller.

A group of servants and maidservants have gathered here, pointing at the Ishigaki Mountain Castle to the west, and even his son Hojo Ujinao is here, looking to the west in a daze.

The Hojo Clan looked at Ishigaki Yamashiro, his originally angry expression became as stupid as his own son, and he kept muttering: "No, it's impossible, it's impossible."

"Impossible, impossible, impossible!" Hojo Ujimasa said hysterically, "It must be the conspiracy of that stinky monkey! It's like Sumata One Night Castle again, but it's just a wooden frame and paper paste!"

After all, he pointed his finger at the castle tower of Ishigaki Mountain Castle on the top of the western mountain and said, "You have a good look, once it rains, it will reveal its original shape!"

It has to be said that the Hojo clan government and the authority accumulated by the Hojo clan over the years are still there. Under the guarantee of the Hojo clan government, they temporarily suppressed the retainers who were about to move, and they also promised the Hojo clan government that they would appease the emotions of the soldiers.

"Boom~! Boom~!" If God really gave the Hojo clan some face, not long after his words fell, cumulonimbus clouds began to pile up in the sky, and by the afternoon there were lightning flashes and thunder. .

"It's fake. It's all fake. Take a good look at it." Ever since the weather started to turn cloudy and there were signs of rain, Hojo Ujimasa stared straight at Ishigakiyama Castle, muttering nervously "all fake."

"Clah la la la ~!"

In the eyes of everyone, it finally started to rain, and everyone in Odawara Castle stared intently in the direction of Ishigakiyama Castle.

If, as Hojo Ujimasa said, all this is a monkey trick, then the rain will directly wet the paper, exposing the wooden shelf behind it.

But unfortunately, all of this is just a beautiful fantasy of the Hojo clan. The rain gradually stopped at sunset, and the Ishigaki Mountain Castle on Mount Xuanli still stands there.

Perhaps in order to further dampen the morale of the defenders, Hideyoshi held a banquet inside Ishigakiyama Castle that night. The torches illuminated the entire Ishigakiyama Castle red, and laughter continued to spread to the ears of Odawara Castle defenders.

Under the pressure of the retainers, the Hojo clan had to organize an assessment in the city to discuss whether to surrender or continue to fight.

At the meeting, many parties were arguing endlessly, and it was not even possible to set the tone of war or peace. The Hojo clan government, which should have been finalized in the past, seemed very quiet in this evaluation.

The ministers did not have a unified strategy, and the patriarch and those in power could not make a final decision, which made Hojo's retainers even more confused about the future direction of the military strategy.

Perhaps it was Hideyoshi who disliked the quietness tonight, and actually let the troops around Odawara Castle fire two rounds of iron cannons at Odawara Castle to cheer for the fall of Ishigakiyama Castle.

The sudden sound of iron cannons broke the tranquility of the night in the past, and also interrupted the "Odawara military meeting" that had not been taken over. night attack.

However, it turns out that Toyotomi Hideyoshi just fired two shots on a whim, and did not organize any so-called night raids at all.

But the honesty of the Toyotomi army does not mean that the Hojo army is honest. Ota's family is a firm main combat faction. Seeing that the superiors have been unable to make a conclusion, the young and energetic man went out of the city that night to fight Ikeda Teruma and Tachibana Soshige. A night raid on the camp.

As a result, the two returned to their own camp just after the banquet, calmly commanded the army to resist, and finally beheaded Hirosawa Shigenobu, Ujibo's subordinate, and Ota Shibo fled back in embarrassment.

Early the next morning, probably because he was annoyed by the night attack on Hojo's house last night, Hideyoshi ordered all the legions to attack Odawara Castle after dawn.

At this time, the morale of Odawara Castle had dropped to a low point, and the upper management was busy with meetings, and even the war and peace were not discussed.

The lower-level warriors do have the idea of ​​fighting, but what's the point of letting them fight?

Today's siege seemed surprisingly smooth, not at all like the Hojo Army that resisted Hideyoshi's offensive before.

In just one day, the Sannomaru of Odawara Castle had already fallen, and the speed of the fall was so fast that Hideka felt that there was almost no resistance.

The main reason for such low morale is the insufficient supply of food and drinking water in the armament, as well as the heads of Daodaoji Zhengshige and others sent a few days ago.

Since the city was besieged, more than 20 people have surrounded Odawara Castle completely, and the city has lost its source of external information.

Since the heads of Daidaiji Masashige and Inomata Bangken were delivered to the proclaimers Minowa Castle and Shinobi Castle, the heads of the guards of Hachioji Castle and Iwatsuki Castle were sent into the castle one after another, and they all told them that they It has become an isolated city.

Especially in the siege of Hachioji Castle presided over by Maeda Toshiie, Hideyoshi demanded that all the Hachioji defenders be massacred, and the heads sent into Odawara Castle at that time were as large as 1200 levels.

In fact, the morale of the Odawara defenders had already died out, but it was suppressed by the samurai above.

With the completion of Ishigaki Mountain Castle overnight, the psychological defense of the defenders was completely broken, and the soldiers began to ask for explanations from the bottom up. This is why Matsuda Kenhide led people directly into the Imperial Palace to look for Hojo Ujimasa that day.

Sannomaru in Odawara Castle is the main concentration of samurai residences, Ninomaru is mainly a martial arts training ground, warehouse and execution office, and Honmaru is the residence of the Hojo family.

In other words, the fall of Sannomaru caused the Hojo clan to lose a large number of houses that could be used to accommodate soldiers and samurai. Even if they fled into Ninomaru Castle, the Hojo clan government was unable to resettle them.

Hideyoshi, who felt that the attack on Odawara Castle was going well, shouted the slogan of taking Odawara tomorrow.

Contrary to the optimism of Toyotomi's forces, the Hojo family in the castle had a gloomy expression. As the diplomatic monk of the Hojo clan, Banbuoka Jiang Xuesai once again offered a strategy of surrender to the Hojo clan government.

Since Hideyoshi’s Hojo conquest, he has actually mentioned it several times, but he was refuted by his colleagues every time before. What’s more, he was a spy sent by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and his lord Hojo Shizheng did not support him. idea.

But this time was different. When he proposed this idea once, the hall was surprisingly calm, and no one came out to criticize him. Obviously, although everyone did not admit it, they also acquiesced to this choice.

"You go over there." Hojo Shizheng, who had been silent for a whole day, finally spoke, and he said to Banbuoka Jiang Xuesai, "You go and talk to Kanbai Highness. Our bottom line is to keep the two countries of Izu Sagami. If we can It would be a good thing to keep some Musashi.”

Perhaps even Ujimasa Hojo didn't realize that his address to Hideyoshi had changed from "stinky monkey" to "Master Kanbai". It was obvious that Hideyoshi had beaten him to death.

But judging from the conditions he raised, he still didn't recognize the facts. Ban Bugang Jiang Xuezhai knew very well that it was impossible for Hideyoshi to agree to such conditions.

But after all, the Hojo clan is now the speaker of the Hojo family. No matter how unreliable Itabao Jiang Xuesai thinks, he must bring this condition to negotiate with Hideyoshi.

In this way, Banbugang Jiang Xuezhai braved the wind and rain to leave the city and came to Ishigaki Mountain Castle to meet Hideyoshi.Hideyoshi was very happy to hear that the castle had finally sent an envoy on its own initiative, and called Hideo and many other famous names over, intending to let them see with their own eyes the moment when the Hojo clan became weak.

It was also at this moment that Banbugang Jiang Xuezhai observed this stone wall mountain city for the first time with his own eyes. What surprised him was that this mountain city built on the Xuanli Mountain City was just like his name, a stone-built mountain city. into a mountain city!
Prior to this, due to the relationship between the mountains, stone walls were mostly used on Pingcheng or Pingshan castles, and most of the mountain castles were still earthen castles. After all, how to transport the stones was a very difficult thing.

But seeing Hideyoshi, Banbu Gang Jiang Xuesai of Shishan Castle, made him even more pessimistic about the future of the Hojo family.

"The foreign minister Ban Bugang Rongcheng has met His Highness Guan Bai."

Banbuoka Jiang Xuesai was taken to the Imperial Palace of Ishigaki Mountain Castle, facing Hideyoshi's serious eyes, he still greeted him with neither humbleness nor condescension.

"Hahaha~ We meet again, Master Itabao." Hideyoshi seemed to be in a good mood when he saw Banbugang Jiang Xuesai.

Facing Hideyoshi's semi-taunting and semi-formal inquiry, Banbu Gang Jiang Xuezhai responded with a smile, and said to Hideyoshi, "My lord has already met His Highness Guanbai's Tianwei, and my lord asked me to tell His Highness that some time ago it was true It was the Hojo family who offended His Highness Kanbai."

Hideyoshi was not interested in his polite words, he waved his hand to interrupt his speech and said, "Let's be straightforward, what is Hojo Usama's brat going to do."

When Hideyoshi directly asked about the original purpose, Banbuoka Jiang Xuesai was embarrassed to say it directly. After all, even he himself could not stand the conditions given to him by the Hojo Clan.

But he was helpless as a diplomatic monk of the Hojo clan, so he could only bite the bullet and say, "My lord begged His Highness Guanbai to give him the opportunity. He will lead the Hojo family to submit to His Highness, and contribute to His Royal Highness's unification of the world.

Just need to give the safety of Izu and Sagami two countries."

(End of this chapter)