On May 15, the eleventh year of Tenmon (1542), due to the sudden rebellion of the ally Mizuno family and turning to the Oda family, the Imagawa-Matsudaira coalition forces were defeated at Sakurai Castle. The Matsudaira clan's troops were almost wiped out and retreated to the east bank of the Yahagi River in disgrace. After returning to Okazaki Castle, the Matsudaira clan could not even gather the guards of Okazaki Castle. They could only urgently transfer the remaining thousands of Matsudaira clan troops back from Miki Castle.
In this way, there were only 600 people from the Tojo Matsudaira family and the Goi Matsudaira family left under Miki Castle, and it was difficult to even blockade Miki Castle. Imagawa Yoshimoto then wrote back to Nishizaki Castle and Imagawa Hall, asking the Imagawa family to send additional reinforcements - because the Oda family had shown signs of intervening in Mikawa.
On the night of May 15th, Okazaki Castle welcomed an envoy, none other than Matsudaira Toshinaga, the governor of the Fujii Matsudaira family. He is the fifth son of Nagasaki Matsudaira, and is also the great-uncle of Matsudaira Hirotada's grandparents. In the previous battle for the governor, he took a neutral position and did not send troops to join the civil war. Instead, he rushed to Anxiang City to garrison and fight the Oda family who took advantage of the chaos to invade. In this incident, Matsudaira Toshinaga also withdrew from the civil war because his city was captured, and did not appear in the battle that broke out earlier today.
"Uncle the Fifth Ancestor." In the Okazaki Castle Castle, Matsudaira Hirotada, who had just bandaged his wounds, hurriedly came out to greet him. He had a reason to be anxious - with the intervention of the Oda family, the betrayal of the Mizuno family and the Sakurai Matsudaira family. , the betrayal of the Fukugama Matsudaira family, there is no longer a foothold of the Matsudaira clan west of the Yahagi River. Fujii Castle, the residence of the Fujii Matsudaira family, is on the west bank of the Yahagi River. It is the last inch of territory on the west bank of the Yahagi River that is nominally loyal to the Matsudaira family. Now his position is crucial to the Matsudaira family.
"My lord, I'm very sorry. I'm here to say goodbye to you." Matsudaira Toshinaga is also a straightforward person, without any prevarication or prevarication. But these words seemed to pour a lot of cold water on Matsudaira Hiroyuki, causing the smile that finally appeared on his lips to freeze instantly.
"Yes...yes, everything west of the Yahagi River has fallen. Even if the fifth uncle wants to resist, he will be outnumbered. It is better to leave the Matsudaira clan for the time being and protect himself." Matsudaira Hirotada was stunned for a moment, then hesitantly said, I want to excuse Matsudaira Toshinaga so that the situation will not be so embarrassing.
"Please forgive me, my lord, the sinner had no control over his actions, and it was all for the survival of his own family." Matsudaira sighed deeply, bowed deeply, and made a master-slave ceremony to Matsudaira Hirotada, "The third brother has already come to the sinner. He asked the envoy to persuade you to surrender. He said that the Sakurai Matsudaira family has formed an alliance with the Mizuno family and the Oda family. They are afraid that they will come to attack Okazaki Castle in the future. They want to replace you and become the head of the Matsudaira family. Please do your best, my lord. careful."
Matsudaira Hirotada swallowed and said thank you softly.
"The guilty minister will not participate in the civil war of the Matsudaira family. Even if the third brother forces me to march in the future, the guilty minister will not send any troops. Please rest assured, my lord." Matsudaira Toshinaga saluted again, almost pressing his forehead to the ground. This time, Matsudaira Hirotada didn't know how to express his gratitude.
"My lord, please take care of yourself and wish you good luck in martial arts."
·
At the same time, in the big tent of the Imagawa family in the castle town of Okazaki Castle, Imagawa Yoshimoto also welcomed a guest. Even before he entered the house, Imagawa Yoshimoto had already recognized the identity of the person - with the strong smell of copper, there was no one else except Yamaguchi Kotsugi.
"His Majesty Imagawa, long time no see." After Yamaguchi entered the tent, he prostrated himself on the ground, nodded and bowed and performed a set of grand salutes.
"His Majesty Zuomasuke, you might as well say it directly." Imagawa Yoshimoto, however, had no intention of beating around the bush with Yamaguchi Kotsugi. Previously, Yamaguchi Kotsugi sent Tadanobu Honda to leave a message of "there will be trouble" to Imagawa Yoshimoto, and then the Imagawa-Matsudaira coalition forces were defeated in Sakurai Castle. Yamaguchi Kotsugi himself also led the army to arrive in time and stopped it. Imagawa Yoshimoto's counterattack turned defeat into victory. Obviously, there is the shadow of Yamaguchi Kotsugi behind this series of actions. Imagawa Yoshimoto was really not in the mood to be polite to the enemy in front of him.
"Haha, Your Highness Imagawa is magnanimous, but don't think of me as your enemy." Yamaguchi Kyoutsugi heard the unkindness in Imagawa Yoshimoto's tone and quickly apologized.
"Then what should we take His Highness Zuomasuke for?" Imagawa Yoshimoto raised his eyebrows.
"Businessman, businessman, just do some business." Yamaguchi Kyoutsugi immediately raised his head with a smile on his face, "Some of the small tricks I used before were nothing more than my shouting to bargain for these small businesses. A noble man like you. , it’s normal that you can’t get used to the noise from our market, please calm down and calm down!”
"What tricks did His Highness Zuomasuke use?"
"Haha, since I want to do business with His Highness Imagawa, I don't dare to have any expectations, so I should tell you the truth." After hearing the words, Yamaguchi Kotsugi immediately straightened up and handed out the treasure like a monkey offering treasure, "Mizuno Shimono Mamoru was seriously ill at the end of last year, but the Mizuno family kept it secret for the sake of family stability, but I have some connections in the Mizuno family, so naturally I know a little bit about it."
"I previously bet on Mizuno Shimono Mamoru during the civil strife in the Mizuno family. But a dead person cannot do business after all. So when I saw that Mizuno Shimono Mamoru was dying, I changed the entrance hall and The eldest son Mizuno Toshichiro (Mizuno Nobugen), who had a bad relationship before, has reconciled."
"About a month ago, Mizuno Shimono Mamoru was seriously ill and ignored political affairs. I added fuel to the fire, and all the power in the Mizuno family fell into the hands of Mizuno Toshichiro! Then Mizuno Toshichiro was on good terms with the Oda family. Naturally, he was trying to contact the Oda family and wanted to break up the marriage alliance with the Matsudaira clan. It just so happened that the Matsudaira family was also in trouble at that time, and Matsudaira Sakurai (Matsudaira Nobusada) and Matsudaira Miki (Matsudaira Nobutaka) also had tense relations with the clan. .”
"Later, Mizuno Shimonomaru died of illness, so I added fuel to the flames and asked Matsudaira Sakurai to marry his two daughters to Oda Ohsumi (Oda Nobhiro) of Anxiang Castle and Mizuno Toshichiro of Mizuno Castle respectively. The Oda family, The Mizuno family and the Sakurai Matsudaira family formed an alliance to give some color to the Matsudaira family. The Mizuno family pretended to be allies of the Matsudaira family and kept secret the death of Mizuno Shimomomo. In fact, they wanted to deceive the Matsudaira family into overcoming the Yahagi-Kawahei rebellion. Then he suddenly stabbed him in the back and annihilated the Matsudaira clan with one fell swoop."
After hearing this, Imagawa Yoshimoto shook his head, took out the folding fan from his waist and fanned himself to cool down the fire, and then whispered: "It's all treachery and undeclared war."
"Well, don't blame me, Your Highness Imagawa. We business people are inevitably a little crooked, and we don't do business without treachery!" Yamaguchi Ketsugu immediately apologized flatteringly.
"There is really no way..." Imagawa Yoshimoto let out a long breath, and then asked in a low voice: "Then His Highness Zuomasuke has already planned to annihilate me, and you still want me not to treat you as an enemy?"
"Well, when you first came to Mikawa, I wanted to do business with you. You weren't willing." Yamaguchi taught the envoy exchanges a month ago. "Then if you don't want to do business with me, I will do the same." I have no choice but to shout and tell you that I still have some energy in Owari Mikawa, so that you can change your mind. Anyway, the Imagawa family has not suffered any losses in this battle, so you have nothing to grudge against me."
More than just some energy. The Yamaguchi sect is silent, but the connections he has secretly laid out can turn the Owari Mikawa border upside down in an instant.
"Then what kind of deal do you want to do?" Imagawa Yoshimoto had suffered a big loss and could only ask at this moment.
"As before, I would like to ask His Highness Imagawa to help me kill Mizuno Toshichiro. If he cannot be killed, you can also severely injure his trusted retainers to weaken his control over the family. After all, he is the new young master, and there are many veterans in the family. If you don't accept him, you won't be able to command anyone without his confidants." Yamaguchi Kotsugi offered the same conditions as a month ago, "I wonder what your Majesty Imagawa wants?"
"Why did you kill Mizuno Toshichiro? Didn't you already support him in power and make peace between the two parties?"
"Well, that kid Toshichiro Mizuno has a high heart, so why would he be willing to be a puppet? He has many things on his mind, and the Oda family is also providing foreign aid. How can he easily control such a person?" Yamaguchi Ketsugu smacked his lips, and then smiled, "I have taken a fancy to his younger brother Mizuno Tokuro (Mizuno Nobuchika), the third son of Mizuno Shimonomaru. He is honest and has no family background. If he is supported in power, it will depend on what the Mizuno family will do in the future. The Yamaguchi family’s expressions turned pale.”
"Hmm..." Imagawa Yoshimoto pondered for a moment - he naturally didn't pay attention to the competition for the governor of the Mizuno family. If he could get some benefits for the Imagawa family, so that he could go back to work for Taiyuan Xuezhai later, that would be the best. "What about the reward given by His Highness Zuomasuke?"
Yamaguchi Kotsugi paused, cleared his throat, and then explained the plan: "Haha, it's the same as before, we will spread rumors that the Matsudaira clan plans to break the alliance with the Imagawa family and form an alliance with the Oda family instead. . The Oda family also plans to use the name of the Matsudaira clan to intervene in Mikawa. Now that everything west of the Yahagi River is lost, half of the Matsudaira clan has turned to the side of Matsudaira Sakurai. The Matsudaira clan has long been panicked. As soon as this rumor came out, it would be soon The news has spread all over the city. In order to gain the trust of Your Highness, the Matsudaira clan will have no choice but to obediently offer their newborn legitimate son Matsudaira Takechiyo."
"The plan is a good one, but it's really unbecoming of a gentleman to calculate allies like this." Hearing this, Imagawa Yoshimoto let out a long sigh, thinking of his loyal and upright sworn brother Matsudaira Hirotada, and then thinking about the dirty things he was planning. Plan, I just feel very regretful.
"Your Highness is a kind-hearted person, but the world is in troubled times, and it is not up to you." Yamaguchi Kyoutsugi once again extended his hand to Imagawa Yoshimoto, and whispered with certainty: "Then, Your Highness Imagawa, I wish you a happy cooperation in advance."
“A pleasure to work with.”
Imagawa Yoshimoto finally agreed.
