"Since Master Huan'an and His Highness Hojo have called us back, they obviously want to ask for peace." Taiyuan Xuezhai immediately launched an offensive after everyone sat down, taking the leadership of the negotiations back into his own hands, "Then , you have to prove your sincerity in negotiating, right? Tell me, if we want the Imagawa family and the Takeda family to withdraw, what conditions will the Hojo family be willing to give."
Hojo Ujiyasu was unmoved upon hearing this, while Hojo Genan cleared his throat and prepared to speak. Imagawa Yoshimoto also roughly understood the division of labor between the Hojo family duo - Hojo Genan played the red face, and Hojo Ujiyasu played the bad face. It is estimated that all the compromises will be made by Hojo Genan, and Hojo Uyasu just needs to be responsible for the evil.
That being the case, whatever Hojo Ujiyasu says next can be ignored.
"The area occupied by our army to the west of the Fuji River will be returned to the Imagawa family. The hostages of the wealthy families in the area, including the Kamahara family, will also be returned. In addition, all the grain and grass baggage that our army transported to the west of the Fuji River during this campaign will be donated to the Imagawa family. In addition, we will compensate the Imagawa family with 30,000 koku and the Takeda family with 10,000 koku of food and grass as military expenses. What do you think?"
The four members of the Imagawa family and the Takeda family burst out laughing when they heard this. A moment later, Takeda Harunobu laughed and cursed: "Are you sending beggars away?"
"Do you want love? I don't want it anymore!" Hojo Ujiyasu immediately slapped the table hard and retorted.
"The west of the Fuji River has been recaptured by us. The Kamahara family and other wealthy families have returned to the Imagawa family anyway. The grain and grass you mentioned as gifts to us have been seized by us. Even without negotiation, they are all ours." Imagawa Yoshimoto cooperated with Takeda Harunobu and was responsible for the role of reasoning, "After all, if we let the Hojo family go back to rescue Odawara Castle, you will only give our two families 40,000 koku of food and grass? The castle town of Odawara Castle has been looted. The loss will be 300,000 yuan, right?"
"Why do you say that the Takeda family will definitely win?" Hojo Ujiyasu said fiercely again, "My father has summoned the citizens of Odawara Castle to defend the territory, and everyone has issued weapons. Among the common people, at least those who have served in the military Tens of thousands of people, will they be afraid of the few thousand people like Takeda Nobutora?"
"After all, we are just a mob. If we weren't afraid, the Hojo family wouldn't sit here and negotiate peace with us." Takeda Hironobu spoke slowly. Although his tone was gentle, his logic was to the point. "The Hojo family might as well be more honest. You yourself are The last thing you can afford is to waste time. There is no need to repeat the trick of asking for high prices and paying back on the spot. Offering such low conditions first and waiting for us to counter-offer? It’s just a waste of time.”
"Then why don't you ask the Imagawa family and the Takeda family to tell you what they want? I am stupid and can't figure out what you are thinking." Hojo Genan simply retreated in order to advance and threw the ball to Imagawa Yoshimoto. and Takeda Harunobu.
"Give Kadong to us, and the Hojo family will withdraw from the eastern part of Suruga." Imagawa Yoshimoto said simply and solemnly.
"You're eating shit!" Hojo Ujiyasu was completely offended. He stood up suddenly, pointed at Imagawa Yoshimoto's nose and yelled, "Why didn't you tell us to cede Odawara Castle to you?"
Normally, if someone pointed at his nose and scolded him, Imagawa Yoshimoto would probably be a little flustered. But this time he was already prepared, his face was as calm as water, without a trace of ripples.
The Hojo family is defrauding the Imagawa family's bottom line. They want to see whether the condition proposed by Imagawa Yoshimoto is the real bottom line or just an inflated offer. At this time, Imagawa Yoshimoto must show a firm enough attitude and insistence on this bottom line to make the Hojo family suspect that this may really be the Imagawa family's uncompromising request.
If you are not firm enough, the result will be like the request for compensation made by the Hojo family just now, which will be exposed at the first glance - it is just a casual request.
"Odawara Castle was conquered by your Hojo family and has been your home for decades. How could I make undue demands? But Suruga is a territory that has been passed down from generation to generation for three hundred years by the Imagawa family and has never changed hands. Now in my If I lose my hand, how can I face my ancestors?" Imagawa Yoshimoto said without blushing or without a heart beating about those family sentiments that he had never believed in in the past, but they were obviously very useful to the traditional samurai here.
"Now I want to take back our Imagawa family's homeland? Is there anything wrong with it? If the Hojo family refuses, then we can only stay with you until the end. After all, we may never have such a good opportunity to regain our territory!"
"Impossible!" Hojo Ujiyasu yelled without giving in, making Imagawa Yoshimoto unable to figure out where the Hojo family's bottom line was. "I, the young master, sent troops to attack Hexi, but turned around and threw all Hedong back. You How am I supposed to face my retainers? How can I fulfill my position as young master? How can I return a strategically important land like Hedong to you without a fight? "
"Besides, the Takeda family still has quite a bit of this Kadong area, isn't it?" Hojo Genan also added after Hojo Ujiyasu. He is cunning and cunning and obviously has more experience in diplomacy than Hojo Ujiyasu. Many, not forgetting to drive a wedge between Imagawa and Takeda, "If His Highness Imagawa wants to take back Hedong, will he also take back the Takeda family's share?"
"The Takeda family has no problem!" Seeing this, Takeda Harunobu immediately jumped out to take over the conversation. He was obviously prepared, "Just think of it as a dowry for my sister. As long as the Hojo family agrees to withdraw from Suruga, the Takeda family will immediately Let’s return the territory we occupy in Fuji County and the northern part of Shudong County to the Imagawa family! If the Imagawa family wants to take back Suruga, the Takeda family fully supports it and is willing to fight side by side with the Imagawa family. The territory they conquered will also be handed over to the Imagawa family. Home!"
There is fraud in this...
Taiyuan Xuezhai had reminded him before, and Imagawa Yoshimoto instinctively felt something was wrong from the Takeda family's kindness.
What Takeda Harunobu said is that if the Hojo family is willing to withdraw from Suruga, the Takeda family will return the territory. But it is absolutely impossible for the Hojo family to agree to this condition, because the Takeda family's promise is just verbal, but they have to sell the Imagawa family a big favor. The Takeda family supported the Imagawa family so much in the Suruga territorial dispute, so the Imagawa family reciprocated the favor and had to support the Takeda family in other requests made by the Takeda family later. But if the Takeda family becomes more confident with the support of the Imagawa family, and turns to make excessive demands on the Hojo family - that may lead to a breakdown in the negotiations.
This is what the teacher said before, the risk of being implicated by the Takeda family. And I must tell the Takeda family that the Imagawa family's support for the Takeda family is limited in order to restrain the Takeda family from taking bold risks.
"No, thank you very much for Torachiyo's kindness, but how can our Imagawa family seize land from our allies?" Imagawa Yoshimoto raised his hand and pressed it down, signaling to Takeda Harunobu, "It doesn't have to be like this."
"If you really want to give me a dowry, just give me the famous sword on Torachiyo's waist." Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled and pointed at Takeda Harunobu's waist - it was the Takeda family's famous sword - Sozomonji.
"Ha... Goro wants it, so of course he will give it to him." Takeda Harunobu obviously did not expect that his strong support would be rejected by the Imagawa family, and responded with some stuttering.
"Young Master, you have met a master." Takeda Hironobu chuckled behind Takeda Harunobu, shook his head and lowered his voice.
·
"In any case, it is impossible to return to Kadong." Hojo Ujiyasu insisted and did not relent, but made a slight concession, "It is okay to return the territory currently occupied by the Imagawa family."
"Has His Highness Hojo not understood the situation?" Imagawa Yoshimoto's face darkened and he threatened, "This time we send troops to take back Hedong is the bottom line of our Imagawa family. Not to mention other demands, if you all If I am not allowed to take back the ancestral territory of the Imagawa family, how should I face the retainers who sacrificed their lives to fight?"
"It's useless no matter what you say. No matter what you say, if it doesn't work, it won't work." Hojo Ujiyasu remained unmoved, "Taking a step back, what will happen even if I agree to you? I'm just the young master of the Hojo family. Returning Hedong is such a big thing, I have said and done it, but it was my father who made the final decision. It is obviously impossible for my father to agree to this request, so what are you thinking?"
Imagawa Yoshimoto frowned, suddenly realizing that he was at a subtle disadvantage at the negotiation table.
He originally thought that since he was the family governor and the other two negotiators were both young masters, he would have an advantage - because he had greater authority. But it turns out that this is not always the case. Hojo Ujiyasu could easily defuse Imagawa Yoshimoto's attack on the grounds that "the head of the family would not agree". But Yoshimoto Imagawa himself appeared at the negotiating table as the top decision-maker, but had to respond to every attack without being able to make excuses.
On the contrary, negotiators who are less able to keep their word at home are more powerful at the negotiating table. Because if the conditions offered to him by his lord are not met, even if he agrees during the negotiation, the agreement obtained from the negotiation will not be recognized by his lord - wouldn't it mean that he has to make concessions to him?
In other words, the harsher the position of one's own family on a certain issue, the more powerless the negotiator is at home, and the more advantage he or she will have in diplomatic negotiations. On the contrary, the more flexible the position of one's own family on a certain issue, and the greater the negotiator's power at home, the more passive he will be in diplomatic negotiations, because he is considered by others to be more capable of making concessions.
Imagawa Yoshimoto did not know that he was self-taught and figured out the concept of "winning set" in the later "two-level game theory".
Subsequently, Imagawa Yoshimoto and Hojo Ujiyasu fell into a turbulent dispute. Both sides insisted on their own terms and refused to compromise.
"Let's rest for a while first. Let's have lunch." Seeing that the negotiation was gradually reaching a deadlock, Taiyuan Xuezhai took the initiative to suggest that the meeting be adjourned, "After lunch, we will discuss the details in detail. talk."
