"Come on, His Highness Imagawa, let's make peace with us. The Hojo family will offer Kadong immediately." Hojo Genan stretched out his hand in the direction of Imagawa Yoshimoto, "Just like in the past decades, let the two of us The families fight side by side and live up to the friendship of our ancestors. The relationship between the Imagawa family and the Takeda family is not very good, right? They are just mortal enemies who just got together for profit. What is there to miss? As long as we re-alliance, everything will be solved . Or would you rather fight a bloody battle with the Hojo family and make countless sacrifices than agree to this condition?"
Imagawa Yoshimoto was silent for a long time with his head lowered, trembling slightly with pretense of hesitation. After a while, he slowly asked in a low voice: "If I... the Imagawa family and the Hojo family re-allied, will you really return the east of the river?" For us?”
"Yes, the Hojo family promises you, we don't have much time, let's make a decision quickly."
Hojo Genan and Hojo Ujiyasu cast expectant eyes on Imagawa Yoshimoto, watching him slowly raise his head, with a smile as if a prank had succeeded:
"But, I refuse (tagaga, verbal walulu だが, break る)."
"What?" Hojo Genan and Hojo Ujiyasu frowned in disbelief.
Imagawa Yoshimoto burst out laughing, took out the folding fan from his waist, and fanned himself leisurely, "I lied to you. I was just pretending. I will never agree to such conditions from the beginning."
"I knew you were making me worry in vain, Goro, you are really not happy at all!" Takeda Harunobu, who was relieved at the side, also laughed and looked at Hojo Genan and Hojo Ujiyasu proudly, "You guys Sagami’s old cunning guy, do you think Goro is a cunning politician like you? He is just a free and easy-going and cheap family governor!”
"Yes, betrayal is such a shameful thing. I have abandoned it. How could I do it by myself?" Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled and snapped his fingers in the direction of Takeda Harunobu. "Even if it is for my wife, I will not do it myself." He would go to war with her husband's family, let alone kill his father and younger brother. Otherwise, wouldn't it be like living a life that she hates the most?"
"What the hell..." Hojo Gen'an wanted to tear his rosary to pieces, gritted his teeth and whispered, "Your Majesty Imagawa, are you serious?"
"Stop sowing discord, you stinking monk!" Takeda Harunobu slammed the table and shouted in protest, "In one sentence, will Kadong have relations with us? If not, prepare to go to war! Wait until Odawara Castle falls into a sea of fire. !”
"Yes, hurry up!" Imagawa Yoshimoto also cooperated with Takeda Harunobu, raising his voice to put pressure on the Hojo family, "Return the Kadong area, and then hand over the hostages in the Kadong area for a fixed price."
"Don't go too far!" Hojo Ujiyasu was already furious, but he was held tightly by Hojo Genan. The latter understands that the negotiation must not break down at this time - otherwise the Hojo family themselves will suffer the most. The Takeda family is so eager to take advantage of the situation and push the negotiation to a dead end because he knows that once the negotiation breaks down, the Takeda family will gain the most.
It was already evening, and the further back the Hojo family was dragged, the worse it would be. If you can't set off back to the army tomorrow morning, it will be too late to rescue Odawara Castle - there is not much time left for the Hojo family! The reason why the Hojo family was able to remain calm before was all because of the trump card that the Hojo family thought would be effective as long as it was proposed - who would have thought that it was simply rejected by Imagawa Yoshimoto. After suffering a heavy setback, Hojo Genan was in a state of chaos, and his bald head was so anxious that he was sweating all over. And Hojo Ujiyasu had lost his calmness and saw that he could no longer continue the negotiation.
"Your Highness Imagawa, Jundong County is related to the fate of the Hojo family and cannot be changed under any circumstances. Please be kind and accommodating. In other aspects, the Hojo family will try their best to provide for the Imagawa family! As long as it is not excessive, anything is fine! "
Hojo Genan spoke sincerely, almost leaning over to plead with Imagawa Yoshimoto.
"If I...promise to leave Jundong County to the Hojo family. Will the Hojo family really...promise me anything?"
Imagawa Yoshimoto imitated the tone just now and spoke again.
As soon as this voice came out, Hojo Genan started to tremble nervously, fearing that Imagawa Yoshimoto would say "but, I refuse" again. He couldn't help but feel extremely angry at the moment - how could he, an old diplomat who had been negotiating for half his life, be so nervous in front of a newcomer?
"That's good." Imagawa Yoshimoto laughed with satisfaction and explained the conditions he had already prepared.
·
After the negotiations at Zentokuji Temple, Taiyuan Xuezhai, who returned to the camp, was still savoring the last conditions proposed by Imagawa Yoshimoto.
"The Shimizu navy of the Hojo family is required to hand over all their warships, as well as the 500 merchant ships they rented for transportation... How did you come up with such a strange idea, Chengyang?"
"Teacher, do you want to hear the truth or lies?" Imagawa Yoshimoto asked with a smile.
"Let's start with the fake stuff, brat." Taiyuan Xuezai shook his head with a smile, sat down on the mat, picked up the tea that Hayasaka Nao had brewed on the table and wanted to drink it, but found that it was a little hot.
"Once the Shimizu Navy surrenders its ships, the strength of our Kotsu Navy will surge, and at the same time we will eliminate our competitors. The entire Suruga Bay and even the Tokaido will be under our control, and all traffic between them will be under our control." All merchant ships have to pay us a toll, which is a lot of money. In addition to the 500 merchant ships we are coming, we can use them to go to Sakai Town for sea trade, and we can also go to Tohoku for sea trade. Trade and exchanges bring countless benefits.”
Imagawa Yoshimoto shook his finger and smiled triumphantly, "Furthermore, the Hojo family obviously values agriculture more than commerce, more land than sea, and doesn't care much about sea control and navy. It's hard for them to agree to my conditions. Very refreshing.”
"Yes, it is quite good to have such foresight. Once we control the entire sea area and start sea trade, Kotsu Port and Ejiri Port will become the largest commercial ports in Tokaido, even with Sakai Town and Ishigami Town. Equally famous. The income here is enough to equal the territorial output of one country or even several countries." Taiyuan Xuezhai nodded repeatedly after hearing this and gave Imagawa Yoshimoto a thumbs up, "He is worthy of being my proud disciple. .”
Taiyuan Xuezhai is right. The Imagawa family has always been famous for encouraging shipping. In the "Imagawa Kana Catalog", the shipping tax on Suruga and Toe was specifically abolished, and the property rights of drifting ships were also required to be protected.
"What about the truth?" After Taiyuan Xuezhai was intoxicated with the illusion of "peaches and plums all over the world" for a long time, he remembered that Imagawa Yoshimoto had a real reason for not telling him. he asked while drinking tea.
"I want to buy Jinpei candy for Ginkgo. It seems that I have to go to Sakai Town to buy it. There are too many pirates on the road, so I need a naval escort."
"puff--"
Taiyuan Xuezhai was so angry that he sprayed a mouthful of tea onto Imagawa Yoshimoto's clothes. The latter looked at the white clothes stained by the yellow tea and was instantly very angry.
"You stinky boy who can't get out of a beautiful woman's bed!"
"You're a filthy old man who soils other people's things all day long!"
·
After the three families reached an agreement, Hojo Genan and Hojo Nomasa came to the Imagawa family army as hostages, and the Imagawa army and the Takeda army got out of the way. Let the Hojo army go back. Takeda Harunobu also informed Takeda Nobutora to withdraw his troops and withdrew to Kai before the arrival of the Hojo Army.
On November 13, the sixth year of Tenmon (1537), the Hojo family handed over the hostages of the wealthy families in Anhara County and Fuji County to the Imagawa family, and the Umahara family, Fuji family, Imamiya family and other wealthy families returned to the Imagawa family. The head of the Fuji family, Fuji Nobutada, personally came to Imagawakan to apologize to Imagawa Yoshimoto. Naturally, Imagawa Yoshimoto would not make it difficult for this loyal minister who endured humiliation and heavy burden. He sealed the territory of Fuji County and appointed him as the governor of Fuji County to monitor the movements of the Hojo Army on the border of Fuji County and Shunto County on behalf of the Imagawa family.
After completing the handover of hostages and territory, the Imagawa family released Hojo Genan. Afterwards, the Hojo Army also sent the grain and grass promised to the Takeda family to the border. At the same time, 500 merchant ships and Shimizu Navy ships were moored at the mouth of the Fuji River, and all members of the Kotsu Navy were sent to hold a meeting. The excess ships were beyond the manpower and ports of the Kōtsu family, so Imagawa Yoshimoto promoted Itami Genfu as another ship admiral, built a military port near Ejiri Port, and berthed the ships handed over by the Hojo family. After all the handover matters were completed, the Imagawa family released Hojo Noimasa.
Recovering half of the east of the river and seizing a large number of ships and military pay, he barely dispelled the dissatisfaction he had incited before. The Imagawa family then prepared their troops and prepared to attack Yuanjiang and eliminate the Yuanjiang rebels in one fell swoop. Who would have thought that things would go as planned, and the Tokaido Road suddenly encountered a heavy snowfall that had not been seen in decades. All roads were blocked, and the Imagawa family had to regretfully withdraw its troops.
·
On January 27, the seventh year of Tianwen (1538), Imagawakan Castle Tower.
In winter, with a warm quilt and no dazzling morning light, Ginkgo's laziness is even more out of control, and she will never wake up before noon. But today, she was awakened by the familiar sweet smell.
"Good morning, sir..." Ginkgo opened her eyes in confusion, smoothed the messy hair from her forehead, and suddenly found something in the hand of Imagawa Yoshimoto standing at the door - Jinping candy. That was the latest cargo shipped back from Sakai Town by the Imagawa family's maritime trading fleet.
"Hmm!" Ginkgo sat up all of a sudden, but the cold wind that followed made her shiver, and she retreated into the quilt again, muttering, "Sir, give me the candy."
"I'll give it to you when I get up." Imagawa Yoshimoto made a condition with a smirk.
"No, sir~" Ginkgo wrapped her little quilt tightly, pouting and coquettishly, "Bring it over and give it to me."
"No." Imagawa Yoshimoto still smiled, seeming to enjoy Ginkgo's coquettishness.
"I want it, I want it!" Ginkgo rolled in the mattress. Seeing that Imagawa Yoshimoto was still unmoved, he frowned and said, "Huh, if you don't want to eat, you won't eat. There is really nothing you can do."
"You really don't want to eat anymore?" Imagawa Yoshimoto couldn't help but feel a little regretful when he saw that Ginkgo gave up so quickly.
"Miaomiao! Charge!"
Seeing Imagawa Yoshimoto relax, Ginkgo immediately shouted. I saw a kitten jumping down from the cabinet next to me, snatching the Jinping Candy away from Imagawa Yoshimoto's hand, and then handed it to Ginkgo.
"Hmph~" Ginkgo put the Jinping Candy into his mouth with satisfaction, stroking Meow Meow's fur as a reward, and at the same time gave Imagawa Yoshimoto a proud look.
"Miaomiao, you helped your mother, you are a bad boy." Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled and knelt down and tapped Miaomiao lightly on the head.
"Our children will definitely turn to me in the future." Ginkgo joked with a smile while eating Jinping candy.
"Who said it? Children will definitely like me." Imagawa Yoshimoto seemed quite confident in this aspect, "I can play with children."
"Really? Sir? We'll see, we'll find out next year." Ginkgo said to Imagawa Yoshimoto while taking Miao Miao into her arms.
"Then we'll see." Imagawa Yoshimoto and Ginkgo kept their mouths shut. It wasn't until a while later that they realized the huge amount of information in Ginkgo's words, and looked at Ginkgo blankly.
"Yes." Ginkgo nodded, but the gentle smile on his face made Imagawa Yoshimoto fascinated. She slowly stroked her belly and responded softly, "Guishu has checked with the doctor for me. There should be nothing wrong."
Unexpectedly, Imagawa Yoshimoto suddenly kissed her.
Ginkgo wanted to refuse, but she couldn't help herself in the lingering relationship, and unconsciously responded to Imagawa Yoshimoto's enthusiasm.
"We'll be good parents, right."
"certainly."
