Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 747 Inspection of Beichu Iyo
The Xiu family persuaded them not to return to Xianfani, so they could only ask the Satomi Yoshi family to make a note, and after returning to Kanto, they would send a few caring women from the samurai family who were born in Jibei to Okayama to take care of the old mistress.

What Xiujia is concerned about now is how her mother became blind.

In fact, it is easy to check. After all, there is a doctor from Toyotomi's family in Osaka City. Xian Fani's eyes are blind, so he will naturally go to the doctor to see it. There must be medical records left.

Let the attendant casually send someone back to investigate such a trivial matter.

Xiujia stayed in the Okayama Domain for 10 days. In fact, the government affairs of the Okayama Domain will not take that long at all. The Xiujia is more to accompany the mother who has not seen for a long time.

After the matter here in Okayama was settled, Hideka did not return directly to Osaka, but first took the road to Beichu.

When the transfer was made, the Hide family concentrated most of the remaining retainers of Bizen and Mizusa in Mizuma, making Mizuma a country that was hidden and naturalized in name, but because it was too full, it was actually a semi-independent neighboring country. .

Fortunately, Misaku was surrounded by mountains, and Hideyoshi and other daimyos didn't think much about it, so the political structure of Misaka was able to survive.

However, during the first Korean War, the rich families in Mizusa, as the samurai forces directly under Hideyoshi, were conscripted into the army. Fortunately, they only stayed in Kyushu and did not cross the sea to the north.

But Beichu is different. Most of Beichu's previous tenures were daimyo, and there were daimyos such as Kato Yoshiaki and Nakamura Kazushi before and after.But in the next few years, they often transferred from Beizhong to other places.

The daimyos stop and go in Beizhong, but the unshakable ones are the noble families of Beizhong who were transferred to Suixiu's family at the beginning.

For example, after Qingshui Zongzhi's son Qingshui Jingzhi and Zhuang Zhiqing transferred to Guandong, he was unwilling to migrate with him.

Everyone else could not see, and before Xiu's family left, Qingshui Jingzhi was specially sealed around 1.6 shi around Takamatsu Castle.Although there are not many knowledge and actions, the position of its control is quite important.

Bridge-building technology was not developed in this era. Even though there is a vast plain on the Kurashiki side, Sanyo Avenue still runs through the northern line of Bichu, passing through Takamatsu Castle.

At the beginning of the strategic design, Hideya hoped that Bizen Hidehisa would be the nail to nail down the Mori family, but as the vanguard of defense, Bichu Takamatsu Castle must allow enough time for Bizen to react.

"Hanbei is very useful by my side. Not long ago, I sent him to a family in Omi to be an elder." The purpose of exchanging pleasantries was to strengthen the relationship between Hide's family and Shimizu's family.

As a native of Bichu, the Shimizu family has served the Mori and Ukita families in the past.But don't forget that Shimizu Keiji's father Shimizu Zongzhi died under Hideyoshi's hands.

When Xiuji Ai was in power, the Xiu family treated Shimizu Keiji well, and they barely restored their old collar, even more than when they were under Mao Li.

However, it has been many years since Xiujia transferred to Kanto, and its influence in Jibei has been continuously weakened.To this day, the Qingshui family still has no confidence in how close they are to him.

Besides, the geographical location of Takamatsu Castle is extremely important. Both Shimizu Keiji and the Mori family knew that, if the Xiu family hadn't transferred the seal of Kanto, the Shimizu family might still be in Shimizu City in the north.

The next time the Mori family went to Los Angeles again, it was inevitable that they would not offer Shimizu nobu an offer that he could not refuse. At that time, he took advantage of the opportunity to open the city and obey his old master, but put Xiujiu at the forefront.

So the first thing the Xiu family did after finishing the Okayama family was to come to Takamatsu non-stop to meet their former minister.

As the Toyotomi family's Wakinen, within the scope of his authority, he already has the authority to control the Toyotomi samurai family.

At the same time, the current Shimizu family is the direct ginseng daimyo of the Toyotomi family, and they are still under the jurisdiction of Wakonian, so although the Hide family's visit to Bichu this time has not been registered with Osaka, it is still legal.

During the previous Qingchang riots, as a member of the Xiguo Legion, the Shimizu family went to Luodong with him because they were incorporated into the Legion directly under Hideji.

But because of the Xiu family's secret help, and most of the other daimyos didn't pay attention to such a small daimyo, the Qingshui family was able to survive.

From Xiu's point of view, he has done Qingshui's family such a big favor, so you have to know who is protecting you.This is also the reason why Xiujia dared to negotiate terms with Qingshui Jingzhi this time.

Qingshui Jingzhi also seemed to be surprised by Xiujia's arrival, but fortunately, he still gave Xiujia the hospitality he deserved.

After being flooded, Takamatsu Castle was once abandoned. It was not until the Xiu family took it back and included it as a direct jurisdiction that Takamatsu Castle was gradually built up.

But this city has always been Xiujia's military fortress facing west, and the decoration inside the city is not gorgeous.It still seems a bit extravagant to leave Qingshui with such a great name like Wanshi.

"Even though we've been away for so many years, Takamatsu Castle is still so familiar." After exchanging pleasantries, Hideka finally cut the topic to the main topic. will be in a desperate situation.

Misaku Shou and I are also considered to be the same age, and we both rely on ourselves to prop up our precarious little family. Naturally, we don't want to see him sinking again.The general trend of the world, adults should see it and understand it better. "

Shimizu Keiji had never held a high-level position in the past, so he might not understand clearly the hints from Xiujia.

He probed the Xiu family again: "What does Your Highness mean?"

"Your Excellency, do you think that you are really not responsible for the previous Qingchang riots?" Xiujia's tone gradually became a little cold, "I don't need to say more about how the small wealthy people behave in this world, but Mizusaki still has to look at the long-term Some."

"Your Excellency should have seen the performance of His Highness Gifu and the Osaka family during the Keicho riots, as well as the performance of Okayama Temple and Kinoshita Himeji.

As a small-collar wealthy family, don't always think about gaining wealth, be careful that you will fall to pieces in the end.This incident should be regarded as a lesson. When one knows that it is nothing wrong to leave the cage city, why bother to take the risk of getting involved in the game of the people above? "

The Xiu family didn't dare to directly reveal the relationship between the several families, or persuade Shimizu Jingzhi to directly team up with himself, which is almost publicizing his idea of ​​wanting to make trouble.

Therefore, Xiujia's persuasion to Qingshui Jingzhi is mainly to make him neutral, but this is not the final step.

Before Xiujia left Osaka and headed north, he would prepare a few kits and hand them over to Masashi Hanabo. When faced with mobilization by the Mori family, Xiujia would ask him to open a letter and act according to the contents.

Among them is the condition for him to be handed over to Qingshui Jingzhi.Hideka directly offered a reward of 5 shi from Bichu Takamatsu Castle, which was more than tripled. Hideka believed that Mori Terumoto would never offer such a generous offer.

And what Hideka wants Shimizu Keiji to do is to imitate his father and delay the pace of the Mori family's reinforcements, even if he can't delay Toyotomi Hideyoshi for several months like his father, it would be a great achievement to delay the Mori family for one month file.

Qingshui Jingzhi couldn't figure it out, did Xiujia turn a corner to look at him just to remind himself to be neutral in the future team?
However, he himself is quite grateful to the Xiu family. After all, as the Xiu family said, it was the Xiu family who protected his knowledge and behavior under Qingshui in Daban City.

Now Xiujia warns him not to team easily in the future, and he is still willing to listen to such persuasion.

But he also explained to Xiujia, "My Shimizu family is only a small daimyo after all, and there are huge monsters on the left and right (Mori and Okayama), sometimes it is really forced.

The palace should know that His Highness Gifu is willing to bypass Okayama and Himeji because they have the strength to protect themselves and also have the strength to negotiate terms with Gifu Palace.But my Qingshui family has no more than 500 soldiers, and only [-] soldiers. How can I have a choice? "

The Xiu family was too lazy to listen to his complaints, the little daimyo had his own rules of survival, and it was impossible for the Xiu family to reveal his cards until the last moment.So he just hinted to him lightly, "You used to be my retainer, with me in court for a day, what else do you have to worry about?"

As for how much Qingshui Jingzhi can understand the last sentence, it all depends on his luck.

Hideka stayed overnight in Takamatsu Castle, then headed south to Kurashiki and finally landed in Iyo Komatsu.This is where Asahi Chiyo, the eldest son of the Hide family, is now 11 years old.

The 10-year-old Zhaoshou Maru (Ichijo Ichi) and the 6-year-old Ming Yumaru (Sanjo Mijia) have already gone to the territory to seal, and the 8-year-old Kage Chiyo was sent to Kyushu Tachibana's house at the moment, as a show It is not appropriate for the eldest son of the family, Asahi Chiyo, to stay in Fengchun City, Kanto.

Hideka intends to settle the issue of his Yuanfu before going to battle in Ezo this year. After his Yuanfu, he will bring the retainers that Hideka handed over to him to Iyo.

This is not to send away this 11-year-old boy, but because the Xiu family wants to let their sons go out to practice before the final decisive battle, so that they may be able to help themselves in the war in the future .

Before Asahi Chiyo was sealed off, it was rare for the Xiu family to take on the responsibility of being a father, and personally came to inspect Yiyuqi's territory, paving the way for his son to be sealed off.

In fact, there is still a large plain in the area of ​​Iyo, but because his territory spans the three counties of Shufu, Sangcun, and Ochi, and the most important Komatsu Castle here is a mountain city on the mountain of Shufu County, it is no longer suitable. In this era, the Xiu family ordered people to build a new city on the Yuzhi River on the other side of the Zhongshan River.

Although the order had been issued, the Xiu family hadn't seen how the city was built.Until today, under the leadership of Asahi Chiyo's uncle Date Masahiro, I was able to get a glimpse of the whole picture.

The first time Hideka saw Tamanoe Castle, he had already discovered the problem. The most important city defense structures in Heijo City were the stone wall and the water hole, but the water volume of the Zhongshan River was insufficient, and the water hole on the north side was in a state of dry water all year round.

It can be said that the name of Yuzhijiang City is really nice, but this city is not as beautiful as the name.

Fortunately, the Hide family never thought of fighting in Iyo. The future of Tamanoe Castle may be more like that of Kyoto to Nijo Castle. It will become the residence of a certain son of the Hide family and take care of the Besko Copper Mountain not far away for the family.

Speaking of Besshi Copper Mine, this brings up the second reason Hideka came to Iyo, that is to inspect the output of Besshi Copper Mine, and re-open the Paofang in Iyo, which is close to Zengjia Okayama and Fushimi Castle Defense The idea should be proved.

Therefore, in Tamanoe City, in addition to examining the field records and military service accounts of the Tamanoe clan managed by Date Masakura, the Xiu family also summoned Akashi Keiki, who had already lived in seclusion from the Hide family's ruling group.

As the most important resident elder of the Xiu family, the Akashi family has been stationed in Iyo since the Xiu family was transferred to Kanto. Now 8 years have passed, and it has gradually become the most important political force in Yiyo.

Its main city, Matsuyama Castle, has become the most important city in Iyo, bar none.Even the Yuzhijiang Castle built by the Xiu family for their son Asahi Chiyo is far behind.

Although the Akashi family did not have the money to build Matsuyama Castle as richly as in history, and its main body is mainly earthen walls, it already has the charm of the main castle of Iyokuni.

In fact, during Qingchang's evaluation before, the Xiu family originally planned to take the opportunity of sealing 60 shi to transfer the Akashi family to Kanto, and choose a family from Kanto to replace him in Iyo.

The purpose of doing this is to prevent the fact that the Akashi family dominates the Iyo family and eventually evolves into the fact that the guardian Daixia Katsushang occupies the power of the main family.

But Hideka thought about it later, and the current situation might explode on that day. It might be more advantageous to have a daimyo who speaks well in Iyo. As for Akashi's final transfer, it can be arranged after the evaluation.

Akashi Jingqin is now 67 years old, and he was definitely considered a long-lived existence in the Warring States Period.In history, there are still written records of him in the 2nd year of Qingchang (1597), but he seems to have disappeared after that.

Therefore, according to the time, it may be inferred that the time of this old man may be in the past few years.

Today, the Xiu family summoned the boss in Yuzhijiang City. They also wanted to see the boss's muscles and bones to confirm whether he could still hold on.

If Akashi Jingqin's health is really failing, then the Xiu family has to send a new elder over to fight Yiyo as soon as possible.

This candidate may not be Akashi Quandeng, because Xiujia doesn't like the Qiezhidan attribute in Quandeng.It's all right to stay by the Xiu family's side, if he stays away from the control of the Xiu family, maybe he will carry out Qiezhidan in Yiyo like he did when he was Governor Ezo.

Fortunately, the old man is still in good health, and the Xiu family directly expressed the idea of ​​sending their son Asahi Chiyo to Matsuyama Castle this year to be raised by Akashi Jingqin.

Akashi Jingqin naturally saw what the Hide family meant, this is to want the Akashi family to become the backer behind Asahi Chiyo.

He took this opportunity to propose to the Xiu family the possibility of marrying Akashi Quandeng's daughter Asong and Asahi Chiyo.

Don't think that the old guy is cunning and cunning here. There are advantages and disadvantages to being an old man in the outer town. The advantage is that he can become a local king like a governor and have absolute decision-making power in the outer town.But the disadvantage is that you will gradually lose the right to the center.

Although the current Akashi family can't say that they will lose power in the center, the Hide family's dislike for Qie Zhidan has long been evident.

Akashi Jingqin had persuaded Mingshi Quandeng to change back to Buddhism more than once but was rejected by him. Now it is natural to use other methods to ensure the honor and favor of the Akashi family.

For this reason, as the grandchildren raised under his knees, Akashi Keiki strictly restricted his beliefs. Even his baptized granddaughter Katerina was asked to change back to the beliefs of Nichiren sect and changed her name to Matsu.

The Xiu family has long seen through the careful thinking of Akashi Jingqin, and the Xiu family naturally has no reason to reject the boss's thoughts. As the most important elder of the Xiu family's foreign leaders, the Xiu family has to make the Akashi family feel at ease in order to provide for themselves. Effectiveness is not it?
So the Hide family agreed to this marriage and let Asong, who is 2 years older than Asahi Chiyo, marry him. This time when he returns to Osaka, he will bring Asong back to Kanto with him.

In addition, the Xiu family also promised Akashi Jingqin that they would give the Akashi family Harima Akashi Castle a reward of no less than 10 shi in the future. In order to reflect his long family members to the Akashi family.

The Xiu family was even willing to find a place in Yiyu for Akashi Quandeng's younger brother, Akashi Quanyan, a territory of no less than 3 shi.The Xiu family offered such conditions, so Akashi Jingqin was naturally satisfied.

The reason why Xiujia didn't go to make cakes with Akashi Quan was because although this person had good ability, he was just an idealist, and he could contribute without having to paint cakes.

But it happened to be far away from Iyo Akashi's skills, and Iyo's affairs here are still in charge of the elderly Akashi Kageki and his younger brother Akashi Quanyan, both of whom are realistic.

In the end, Xiujia also discussed with Akashi Jingqin about the possibility of reducing the output of Besshi Copper Mine, but transferring the excess copper mine to Xiangsen Castle to cast cannons, and finally sent it to Okayama and Fushimi Castle.

It is absolutely impossible to leave such an important matter to Date Masahiro or Asahi Chiyo, and the boss has to step in to coordinate the overall situation quietly and keep it as secret as possible.

(End of this chapter)