As soon as he heard about Shouchi and Aizu, Yoshigan knew who gave Yamanaka Yukinomori the idea.
The southern part of the Ou area has complex terrain and more complicated struggles. Because the southern part of Ou is mostly a basin where farming can be done, so in the agricultural era, the cultivated land in the south was far more useful than the frozen soil in the north.
Divided by the Ou Mountains, the southern Ou area is divided into two parts, Uzen in the west and Minamisendai, Fukushima, Aizu, Iwaki and other places in the south of Mutsu in the east.
Hazen in the southern part of Dewa Province has the Mogami River basin as its core. The Mogami River passes through three basins: Yonezawa, Mogami, and Shinjo, and then goes out to sea from the Shonai area.
Sakada Port, the outlet of the Shonai area, is the most important port in Uzen.
Sakata Port connects Naoetsu and Niigata Port in Echigo Province to the south, and Minato Port of Ugo to the north. It is an important port on the northern Japan Sea shipping line.
The Yonezawa Basin in the southernmost part of Dewa Province, and to the south are the four Aizu counties of Mutsu Province. This area is a gateway to the south of the Ou region.
On the other side, Mutsu Province starts from the Minami-Sendai Plain, and to the south are the basins of the Avukuma River Basin, with the Fukushima Basin as the core, which is another gateway to the Ou region.
Aizu, Yonezawa, and Fukushima formed a geographical defense line from west to east to intercept the Ou samurai's southward movement.
As long as the basins on both sides of the Ou Mountains are defended, Ou's careerists will be helpless and unable to break out even if they want to.
Therefore, the attitude of the central government towards Ou in the past dynasties was to keep close relatives of the feudal clan on the Aizu-Fukushima frontline, and then send Ou and Yuzhou to explore the issue and go further north to lead the checks and balances of the local samurai families.
The Ou area has a vast geography. It was once a barbaric place where the Yamato tribe fought against the foreign haired people. One county here is larger than a territorial country in the south.
Because the land is vast, the famous and powerful families in one county can often gather a large force. For example, the Mogami family in Mogami County and the Date family in Date County all rely on one county to build their families.
The Date family was founded in Date County and occupied the Yonezawa Basin. Now Date Masamune has taken over the Minami Sendai Plain and sent his troops south to attack the four Aizu counties.
If the Battle of Shiba Oda hadn't ended quickly and the Kanto Allied Forces quickly returned to Kanto to take control, Date Masamune's strategy might have succeeded.
As long as the fierce battle between the Shiba and Oda families continues for another year or two, Date Masamune, who has captured Aizu and holds the Ou portal, can advance and attack and retreat and defend, and he will definitely become a big trouble for the Kanto Palace.
And Yamanaka Yukimori wanted to intimidate the Ou samurai family, so he sent troops from Shonai and Aizu, the most valuable territories in the Ou area, to achieve both strategy and economy.
Yoshigan knew in his heart that the attack on the village must be based on the idea of Hongchang Manchang. The attack on Aizu was probably based on the instigation of Kao Jingzuna.
At the beginning, in order to secure Yamanaka Yukimori's position and buy out the people, Yiyin personally came forward to give Honcho Shimuchou a big benefit, which was the Shimotsu Trading Road at the northernmost end of the Hokuriku Road Trading Road.
Shimoteyoshi went north and entered the Shonai area of Dewa Province. This trade route was not very profitable, but it was enough to feed a small Honjo Nobunaga.
Facts have also proved that Honzo Shigenaga is very satisfied with this reward. He has been quite diligent in doing things these years and has indeed been a dog to Yamanaka Yukimori.
This time, Yamanaka Yukimori's suggestion to take over the Shonai area must have come from Honjo Nobunaga. Honjo Nobunaga's Honjo Castle is located in the north of Shimotsu, next to the Shonai area.
The original lord of the Shonai area, the Daihoji family, had a very good relationship with the main family. Unfortunately, the Mogami family later invaded the Shonai area and took over this Feng Shui treasure land.
If Yamanaka Yukimori can take over Shonai, he will definitely have to rely on Honjo Nobunaga, who has a strong influence on the local area, to manage it. Honshu Nobunaga can also use Sakata Port to open up shipping to Niigata Port.
The trade routes in the northern part of Shimotsu expanded to Dewa Province, and together with the sea and land transportation, they started doing business northward. With this piece of fat in their stomach, Honjo Nobunaga would laugh in his dreams.
The Mogami family will also learn a painful lesson because of the loss of the Shonai area, and they will no longer dare to underestimate the majesty of the saint.
Yamanaka Yukimori gained the territory and prestige, Honjo Shigenaga gained the good harbor and trade routes in Hazen, but the unlucky Mogami family was the only one who was mute and couldn't tell the story of his sufferings.
Who let the Mogami family offend the saint first? The king is worried about his ministers' labor, and the king humiliates his ministers to death. Yamamanaka Yukimori has good reasons for sending troops to occupy the Shonai area, and no one can make a mistake.
As for the four counties of Aizu, it should be the idea of the Vietnamese families led by Kaji Jingzuna.
The entire four Aizu counties are too big for Yamanaka Yukimori and his men to eat, but it is still no problem to just capture the western Aizu part.
The Agano River connects Shimotsu and Aizu on both sides of the Echigo Mountains, and water transport supports the logistics line. Although there is a mountain barrier, it does not prevent the Shimotsu people from conquering Nishi-Aizu.
During the Shinbada Rebellion, the descendants of Sasaki in Shimotsu suffered heavy losses, but it was not without its benefits.
The Takemata family took refuge with the Uesugi family, and the rest of the Sasaki descendants were basically absorbed by Kaji Keizuna. Kachi Castle, Shinbada Castle, and Igokono Castle were connected together.
The descendants of Sasaki joined Shiba Yoshigan, and Yukachi Kagetsuna stepped in to integrate the various families, and their real strength became stronger.
Having successfully integrated the Sasaki line of descendants, Kaji Kagetsuna is fully capable of breaking into Nishi-aizu through the Agano River.
The Ashina family in the four counties of Aizu has long been divided, and this place has become a battlefield for the battle between Date Masamune and Satake Yoshige.
Ashina retainers who were pro-Date and pro-Satake were fighting each other. The war had lasted for several years, and the local samurai family had already been overwhelmed and tired of the current chaos.
The Shimokoshi clan led by Kachi Kagetsuna entered Nishi-aizu on the order of the deacon of the Kanto Palace to restore local order. Most of the local samurai had no intention of resisting.
Even if there is a small group of ambitious people who want to cause trouble, the local martial arts family cannot defeat the tough Xia Yue Zhong, and Jia Di Jing Gang is very confident.
This time the troops were sent to Ou because Yamanaka Yukimori was well-known. Honjo Shigenaga and Kaji Kaizuna contributed their efforts to enter the Ou border in the name of maintaining the prestige of Yoshigan and eat the fat of Shonai and Aizu.
Yiyin touched his face, feeling more and more like he was being taken advantage of. Everyone was talking about the emperor humiliating his ministers and dying, but in their hearts they were thinking about their own business.
Yamanaka Yukimori's plan was not something that could be thought of overnight. It was probably because she and her subordinates had repeatedly considered their own strength and Yoshiyin's bottom line that they proposed it at this juncture.
Yoshigan glanced at Yamanaka Yukimori and couldn't help but sigh.
Yamazaka Yukimori's talents are indeed average, far less powerful than Daosheng's. The subordinates of Honzhuang Fanchang and Jiadi Jingzang are unruly and cunning, and they are not tribes that can be controlled by Yamazaka Yukimori himself.
However, things in this world are often not compared to brains or fists, but to background.
Is it because Wei Zhongxian is both wise and brave that he can control all civil and military officials and suppress the Donglin Party? Impossible!
The Donglin Party are all kings among kings. If Wei Zhongxian is just comparing his brains and has only read a few books in the palace and knows a few words, he is not worthy of carrying the shoes of the top students of the Donglin Party.
But the reality is that the Donglin Party was driven to death by Wei Zhongxian. Only when the new emperor ascended the throne did they overthrow Wei Zhongxian through the change of imperial power.
Therefore, having a solid background and having the backing of an awesome boss are more important than anything else.
No matter how stupid Yamanaka Yukimori is, Honjo Shigenaga and Kachi Kagetsuna don't dare to fool her and bully her.
Because behind Yukimori Yamanaka is the most powerful faction of the Shiba family, Nizi Yamanaka, who also has Yoshigan's almost doting trust.
If Honjo Shigenaga and Katsuki Tsuna don't want to die, they can only bring Yamanaka Yukimori to win together and help her make plans to expand her power, and in the process, they can get a share of the pie.
Yoshigan could see through at a glance the little calculations behind Yukimori's strategy of conquering Shonai and Aizu in the mountains, but why should he refuse?
Honjo Shigenaga and Kaji Keizuna did enjoy the benefits of this strategy, but it was Yamanaka Yukimori who reaped the greatest benefits. Her reputation and prestige were the strongest backing for the Shimoyoshi soldiers to send troops.
Now that the Kanto Chamber of Commerce is getting bigger and bigger, what the heck are those little bastards from Yuezhong? Can they speak in the Grand Council and the Standing Council?
Only with the help of Yamanaka Yukimori's power can the martial arts families in the lower reaches get greater benefits. In order to obtain greater benefits, they must move closer to Yamanaka Yukimori and show their loyalty.
This is a virtuous cycle, and Yamanaka Yukimori's position will become more and more stable in the process.
Yiyin likes this kind of virtuous cycle very much. There is no end to the advantages in the world, so there is nothing wrong with sharing them with the people below.
If the Sibo Divine Power, which is composed of the divine group, can be worshiped as a Bodhisattva by the Wu family below and gain benefits by offering advice and efforts to its master, Sibo Divine Power will be the biggest profiteer.
With the Divine Clan as the core, the peripheral martial arts families gain profits by assisting the Divine Clan. Even if the owner of the Divine Clan is a bit stupid, the peripheral martial arts families will not dare to deceive and betray them.
This is perfect.
What Yiyin needs to do now is to build the superstructure of Sibo Shenquan and ensure the internal unity and absolute advantage of the Shenzu Group.
Then, naturally there are smart Wu family members who will choose to get close to them, attach themselves to them, and take the initiative to help the Divine Group stabilize the regime.
Whether it's the marriage strategy of a good family's adopted son or daughter, or the win-win profit by betting on more people, these are the martial arts mentality that Yi Yin is satisfied with.
In short, when the following Wu family wants to gain benefits by currying favor with the Shiba Goddess, rather than trying to overthrow the Shiba Goddess through deception, Yiyin should encourage it instead of rejecting it.
Yoshigan glanced at Yukimori Yamanaka, whose eyes were full of expectation, and couldn't help but pat her head and kiss her pretty and delicate little face.
This silly girl, just let Honjo Shigenaga and Kachi Kagetsuna coax her to get promoted and make a fortune.
"Okay, you take Date Masamune to the conference hall to wait for me, and then give her a bowl of ginger soup to prevent her from freezing to death.
If she really freezes to death, my Yukimori's plan to conquer the Ou area will be in trouble."
Yamanaka Yukimori looked at Yoshigan in surprise.
"Did the saint agree?"
Yiyin nodded.
"Of course I agreed. When will I be willing to refuse you?"
Yamanaka Yukimori held Yoshigoshi in his arms and kissed him deeply for a while, until the oxygen was exhausted, and then he separated with a heavy breath.
"I know that the saint likes me."
Yiyin touched her tender cheek, looked at her silly and beautiful appearance, and smiled helplessly.
I'm such a fool, I can't even handle a Daji, let alone a bunch of powerful vixens around me.
This life will have to be given to you sooner or later.