Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 501 The End of the Hojo Clan

Before coming out, Hojo Ujimasa once told Banbuoka Jiang Xuesai to let him fight for more territories on the basis of Izu Sagami.

But after he set off, he ignored the advice of the Hojo Clan Administration. After entering Ishigaki Mountain Castle, he even felt that it was a fantasy for the Hojo Clan to keep the two countries of Izu Sagami.

"..."

"Hehehehahahaha~" After a while of silence, Hideyoshi suddenly burst into laughter, turned to Hideka and said, "Did you hear what he said, Hachiro?"

Xiujia nodded slightly and replied, "I heard that the Hojo family wants to keep the Izu Sagami and the two countries."

"Oh~" Hideyoshi gave a long groan to Hideyoshi's reply and continued to ask, "What do you think of this proposal?"

Facing Hideyoshi's inquiry, Hideyoshi replied loudly, "It's simply a fantasy, an unheard of strange thing!"

After the Xiu family's answer came out, there was a burst of laughter in the Royal Palace.

As early as December, the outer structures of Odawara Castle had been broken, and the Hojo family relied on the city defense to resist the Toyotomi family's offensive.

At that time, Hideyoshi had already sent people in to persuade him to surrender. Hideyoshi was blocked under the Odawara Castle, and he was unwilling to spend more time here. The original condition was the two countries of Izu Sagami.

Now the city has been besieged for another 3 months, and a huge sum of money was spent to build the Ishigaki Mountain Castle on Mount Xuanli, and it even broke into the Sannomaru of Odawara Castle during the daytime offensive.

No matter how you look at it now, we have the advantage, but your Hojo family still offered the conditions 3 months ago.

what happened?Is my army of 25, 10 civilians, and hundreds of thousands of shi of food just to play with you for 2 months?

Don't say that Hideyoshi will not agree to this condition subjectively. If Hideyoshi really agrees to this condition, you can see if the authority of his Toyotomi family is still there.

"Hahaha~" Hideyoshi laughed with everyone for a while, and said angrily, "It's really hard to see the sincerity of the Hojo family under such conditions. It seems more appropriate to say it's a humiliation. Go back and tell your master that he doesn't need to save money." The water source in the city is gone, wash it well today, and wait for the flag to be sacrificed after breaking the city tomorrow."

I don't know who took the lead. Hearing Hideyoshi's threatening words, the daimyos in the hall spit their fragrance towards Banbugang Jiang Xuesai and the Hojo clan behind him in twos and threes.

Faced with the urgent situation of persecution, Banbugang Jiang Xuezhai did not rush, and even said leisurely, "It is understandable that His Highness Guan Bai cannot accept the conditions brought by me. In fact, this condition is also unrealistic in my opinion. "

"En?~" Banbugang Jiang Xuezhai's words successfully attracted Hideyoshi's interest. After all, as a diplomatic monk, he wanted to speak for his master, but what he said just now was not an exaggeration. "how do I say this?"

"His Highness Guan Bai led the world's troops to besiege the city of Odawara. As long as he does not retreat, he will be invincible. His determination can be seen from the fact that His Highness built the city on Mount Xuanli.

Now that the Odawara Castle Outer Maru has been broken, in the eyes of the foreign ministers, the Hojo family is exhausted, and it is impossible to preserve the family name. "

Hearing Banbu Gang Jiang Xuesai's words, Hideyoshi asked curiously, "Then what are you doing here today? Why do you still put forward such conditions?"

Banbugang Jiang Xuezhai said, "As a diplomatic monk of the Hojo family, the foreign minister eats the king's salary to take care of the king. Dr. Zuo Jing summoned me, so I naturally want to convey his conditions to His Highness Guan Bai.

As for whether His Highness Guan Bai agrees, I don't have any expectations. I just ask His Highness Guan Bai to give me a response so that I can take it back for Dr. Zuo Jing's reference. "

"Interesting. It's really interesting." Hideyoshi said excitedly after hearing Banbu Gang Jiang Xuesai's answer.

Hideya could well understand what Hideyoshi meant by "interesting".

As the diplomatic monk of the Hojo family, Banbugang Jiang Xuezhai must be deeply trusted and favored by the Hojo family.

Their words and deeds outside also represent the meaning of the Hojo clan. It can even be said that they are the core core than the whole family. Even if most of the Hojo clan's retainers are renounced, they generally will not renounce.

But from Banbuoka Jiang Xuesai's words just now, it can be heard that he no longer has confidence in the Hojo Clan and the Hojo Clan's politics, and he even began to flatter Hideyoshi in his words, trying to find a way out for himself.

Even if Banbugang Jiang Xuezhai was like this, the hearts of the people in Odawara City might have been dispersed long ago.

Hideyoshi squinted his eyes and smiled at Banbugang Jiang Xuezhai, and said to him, "Listen up, Banbugang-sama, my conditions have changed now!

You are right, the Hojo Clan's desire to preserve the territory is wishful thinking.Go back and tell Hojo Shizheng that as long as he Hojo Shizheng performs seppuku, I promise to save the lives of everyone in the city. "

Hideyoshi originally thought that Banbugang Jiang Xuezhai would argue for the Hojo clan after hearing this condition, but who would have imagined that he was like a microphone, saying two words "understand" to Hideyoshi, and then he was ready to bid farewell to Hideyoshi and go back up.

In the end, Hideyoshi stopped him and said, "You just went back like this. The Hojo clan government inevitably saw me clearly, thinking that I was sitting on the ground and raising the price."

He called Ishida Mitsunari and whispered a few words in his ear and continued, "You take the two back later, let them talk to the Hojo Clan, tell the Hojo Clan that there is no second choice, and don't make a decision before dawn tomorrow. So I attacked the city and took it myself."

The two people Hideyoshi called were, as in history, Kuroda Kanbei and Hojo Ujibun.

Kuroda Kanbei was sent because he was Hideyoshi's military adviser and think tank, and he had enough status within the Toyotomi family to represent Hideyoshi.

At the same time, he didn't have much knowledge and practice, and he was not the indispensable retainer that the Toyotomi family wanted in the end, so he could not be afraid of the Hojo clan's move to leave the cabinet.

Let the Hojo Clan go back entirely because he is the younger brother of the Hojo Clan, and he has been a surrender faction from the beginning.Asking him to talk to the Hojo Clan might make the Hojo Clan want to open up and take the initiative to open the city and surrender.

Although for Hideyoshi, Odawara Castle is already at his fingertips, but the war is a terrible thing, he still hopes that fewer people will die.

Banbuoka Jiang Xuezhai got Hideyoshi's reply, and took Kuroda Kanbei and Hojo Ujikun back to Odawara Castle overnight.

At this time, Odawara Castle was already looking forward to the results brought back by Banbugang Jiang Xuezhai, but everyone saw a trace of solemnity from his application.

Since the Hojo military meeting started at sunset, and after Banbuoka Jiang Xuesai was ordered to leave, the personnel in the Odawara Castle Honmaru military meeting did not disperse, but were anxiously waiting for the result of his mission.

Seeing Banbugang Jiang Xuezhai came back, the Hojo clan government couldn't wait to summon him.But the first thing he noticed was Kuroda Kanbei and Hojo Ujibun behind him.

"Shintaro? (Hojo Ujibun) why are you here?" Hojo Ujimasa asked in surprise when he saw Hojo Ujibun, "Did Bagata Castle fall too?"

After the Hojo Clan saluted the Hojo Clan Governor, he informed him of the overall situation outside, "Not only the Hachigata Castle, but now all the other cities in the Hojo Territory except Odawara Castle have been opened.

Summoned by Guan Bai, daimyogu from Jiuzhou to the Northeast have stationed troops under Odawara Castle. If His Royal Highness Guan Bai has an order, he will launch an attack on Odawara Castle. "

"Where's the Date's house? Where's the Date's house? Has he arrived at the base of the city too?" Hearing the latest situation outside, the Hojo Shizheng hurriedly thought about him and asked, "The Date's family promised that they would support Hojo. They are now Where?"

Kanbei Kuroda answered this question. After all, the Hojo clan was sent to Odawara as a prisoner of war, and he did not have a very thorough understanding of the outside situation.

"The Date family is not under Odawara Castle, but they are no longer in Kanto, and there is no sign of the Date family sending troops at all." Kuroda Kanbei replied
"Date's house is up for grabs. The journey from Yonezawa to the south is only more than ten days away, so he had to walk for two months. There is a saying in Guanbaidian that after dealing with Hojo's house, Date will be next. home."

"Who! Who are you!" Hearing that Hideyoshi wanted to deal with him, Hojo Ujimasa became agitated, and ran directly in front of Kanbei Kuroda, and scolded, "Why does that guy Hideyoshi deal with me!"

"Doctor Zuo Jing, please calm down. His Highness Guan Bai was ordered by the emperor to attack Hojo, so he naturally has the right to deal with Hojo. Don't say that Date's family is not coming, even if he comes, he is just like you. , the world discusses it together."

Facing the threats from the Hojo Clan, Kanbei Kuroda was not in vain, even though the Hojo Clan brought the knife to his neck, he didn't even frown.

On the contrary, the Hojo Clan was so provoked by Kanbei Kuroda that he drew his sword and wanted to strike at Kanbei Kuroda, but was held back by his own clan.

"My lord, please calm down!"

After finally calming down, Hojo Ujimasa let go of Kanbei Kuroda, turned to Banbuoka Jiang Xuesai and asked, "How to integrate, have all my conditions been taken over? What does Hideyoshi say?"

Banbugang Jiang Xuezhai hadn't answered yet, and he said to himself again, "Actually, I can understand Guan Bai's suffering, and I can understand without Izu, just keep Sagami for us."

Obviously, until this moment, he was still having fantasies, and Ban Bugang Jiang Xuezhai was the one who punctured the fantasies.

"His Royal Highness Xian, His Royal Highness Guan Bai vetoed our conditions. He said that he can only give the condition of opening the city to save the lives of the warriors and people in the city."

"What? Is he not willing to give me even 10 shi? Even 5 shi, not 3 shi!"

Hojo Shizheng looked expectantly at Banbugang Jiang Xuezhai, but Jiang Xuezhai just shook his head in response.

"I didn't expect it to be like this in the end." Hearing this condition, Hojo Shizheng seemed desolate, and looked up at the retainers below. He saw the word "cannibal" in their eyes.

He knew very well in his heart that he was about to lose control over his retainers, and now it was only because of the remaining prestige of the Hojo clan that he did not turn his face.

"It doesn't matter if I can save my life, but at the worst, I'll find a daimyo at random and ask for a pension."

"Your Highness first!" Hearing the Hojo Clan's unrealistic thoughts, Banbu Gang Jiang Xuezhai couldn't bear it no matter how good-tempered he was. "Does Your Highness think that no one should be responsible for this battle?"

"Responsible? You mean."

"His Royal Highness Guan Bai's reply to save the lives of the whole city is also conditional. He asks you to apologize in full view under the eyes of everyone in the city."

"Kirikiri?" Hojo Shizheng was at a loss for a while when he heard this familiar yet unfamiliar word.

And the loyal retainers around him forced him to accept the reality with one after another, "please make a decision first".

But at this time, the members of the Hojo sect who should have become the wings of the Hojo clan, such as Hojo Ujitada and others, were silent in the face of the pressure of the officials.

Perhaps for them, the Hojo clan's seppuku in exchange for the lives of the whole city is also an option they can accept, but because of their relatives, they are embarrassed to follow the crowd and force the palace.

"Father." Amidst the pressure of the officials, Hojo's straight cry brought the Hojo clan back to reality.

He turned his head and glanced at the young boy who was still a little immature, and seemed to have made up his mind, "I understand, you go back and answer His Highness Guan Bai, I am willing to bear the consequences of defeat."

Seeing that the Hojo Clan accepted the condition of seppuku in exchange for the lives of the whole city, the traitors and thieves who were still in the palace just now knelt down in front of the Hojo Clan and cried together, chanting in bits and pieces, "It's useless for me to wrong Your Highness!" kind of words."

At this moment, the Hojo clan government didn't want to listen to their nonsense for a moment, and drove them all out, leaving only Hojo Shibang and Hojo Shizhi.

When everyone was dismissed and there were only three of them in the hall, the Hojo clan government walked up to the Hojo clan and said earnestly, "Shintaro, I regret not listening to your original words, if I calmly surrendered, I might not have lost today.

It's just that the matter has come to this point, it's useless to say more, I just ask you to take care of Shinkuro for me for my father's sake. "

Entrusted by the Hojo Clan on his deathbed, the Hojo Clan had no choice but to agree, holding the hand of the Hojo Clan and saying, "Please rest assured, brother, as long as I'm here, Shinkuro will not be wronged."

On March 18, 3, Odawara Castle, which the Hojo Clan belongs to, chose to open the city amidst the attention of the public.

The head of the Hojo clan, Hojo Ujimasa, specially washed his body, went out of the city in white clothes, and went to Ishigaki Mountain Castle to pay a visit to Hideyoshi and pray for his forgiveness.

Since the 4th year of the Ming Dynasty (1495), the Hojo clan took control of Odawara Castle, and the Hojo clan relied on Odawara Castle to defend 3 large-scale attacks, and continued to expand their territory in subsequent counterattacks.

However, to this day, the castle that has accompanied the Hojo family for nearly a hundred years, known as the city that never falls, has finally been taken down.

Hideka accompanied Hideyoshi to stand on the top of Ishigaki Mountain, overlooking Odawara Castle at the foot of the mountain.Behind Hideyoshi, Hideyoshi could clearly feel his high spirits at the moment.

"Hachiro~ Odawara Castle was taken by me. I took down this castle that even Lord Kenshin was helpless."

"My son is here to congratulate my lord father for taking down the Hojo Clan, the overlord of Kanto, and completing the great cause of unifying the world."

"However, our journey is not over yet, isn't it?" Hideyoshi turned to look at Hideka, "Next, you will still be with me, right?"

"Ah?!" Hearing Hideyoshi's question, Hideo froze for a moment, but quickly responded, "Ha Yi, my son is always my father's sharp sword. Wherever you point it, my son will go there."

"That's right." Hideyoshi said happily, "It's a pity that Sun Qi's ability is not half of yours, and the little Satomi family has not been defeated yet.

After Odawara opened the city, the affairs of Kanto and Oshu Shizhi will be handed over to you, especially Sun Qi, you should help your brother more. "

(End of this chapter)