"Hongye, do you mean to... use our military rations to help these people?" Sena Ujitoshi asked with a frown, lost in thought.
"Your Highness, this is exactly what I mean..." Yu Qiuping also said hesitantly, "Anyway, Mininghai City is not short of military rations, isn't it..."
"Boy, are you crazy?" Asahina Taehiro didn't wait for Sena Ujitoshi to speak, and shouted first, "These are precious military rations, and you actually gave them to the people of the Oda family?"
"The common people are the common people, regardless of whether they are divided into the Oda family or the Imagawa family." Yu Qiuping shook his head, "The troubled times have been going on for so many years, and it is the common people who have suffered. The common people in these villages were also devastated by the war because of our two families. Help
They are the obligations of both our families."
"Then we can't use military rations to provide relief!" Asahina Taehyung said.
"Then we don't necessarily have to watch thousands of people starve to death in these villages!" Yu Qiuping said without showing any signs of weakness.
"Then why didn't the Oda family help? The Oda family robbed all their food, and we went to deliver the food instead?" Asahina Taehyung spread his hands, "Then after we delivered the food, the Oda family changed hands and took it all away. Or
When we sent people to provide relief, the Oda family sent troops and robbed us. Aren't we just sending food to the enemy? Didn't the people still starve to death?"
"That's a problem..." Yu Qiuping sighed and began to think deeply.
"Perhaps we can negotiate with the Oda family!" Yu Qiuping suddenly thought of a way, "Didn't we surround Shanzhao Temple and captured more than fifty prisoners? We can negotiate terms with the Oda family, if they don't interfere with us
We will provide relief and promise not to take any more food from the people, so we will relieve the siege and send all the prisoners back..."
Before Yu Qiuping finished speaking, Asahina Taehyung jumped up anxiously, "Boy, are you confused? We send food to their people and then rescue them. We must be sick!"
"But we don't necessarily have to watch more than a thousand people starve to death!" Yu Qiuping also felt a little unreasonable and a little excited.
"You two, stop arguing." Sena Ujitoshi suddenly said, "I will think about this matter again. I will decide after lunch."
"What? Uncle, you still have to think about it!" Taehyung Asahina couldn't believe his ears, "Are you two losing your mind and going crazy? Do you still want to do such a thing that guarantees a loss but no profit?"
"Good nephew." Sena Shitoshi was not angry at all. "Think carefully about the joints inside. If you can't figure it out, I will explain it to you in the afternoon."
After finishing the meal, Sena Ujitoshi immediately summoned all the officers above Ashigaru General to the main camp to start an evaluation meeting.
"After repeated weighings," Sena Ujitoshi said straight to the point, "I think it's the same as General Yuqiu Shi's plan to return the prisoners and relieve the siege of Zenshoji stronghold as a condition of negotiation, so that the Oda army allows us to rescue Narumi.
City, the people in the villages around Dagao City.”
As soon as this statement came out, the whole place was in an uproar. However, because Sena Toshito has always been kind to others and treated his subordinates well, and he has high prestige and popularity in the Imagawa family, no one immediately stood up to object.
Seeing everyone, especially Asahina Taehyung, look dissatisfied, Sena Ujitoshi explained: "This move is not a sure-fire move that you think of, but it can actually bring many benefits to the Imagawa family.
."
"First of all, it must be emphasized that this food transportation operation will not be affected by the relief operation." Sena Shitoshi first gave everyone reassurance, "Originally, the House Governor's Palace only asked us to transport half of the military rations into Narumi The rest of the city is within the expendable range. And we have not received the task of attacking Shanzhao Temple, so there will be no problem in siege of Shanzhao Temple. As for the release of the more than 50 prisoners, we decided The power lies with the person who proposed the plan, General Yu Qiushi."
In Japan, prisoners of war generally follow the unwritten rule that they are given to whoever captures them and do not need to be handed over. Yu Qiuping is willing to release more than fifty prisoners, and no one can stop him.
"But Your Highness, capturing Zenshoji Village will bring huge benefits to the Imagawa family." Sena Ujiyoshi hesitated for a moment and still raised doubts.
"That's true, but this may cost a lot of casualties, and the Oda family will not sit idly by." Sena Ujitoshi explained, "Even if we capture it, after our troops withdraw, the Oda army will take advantage of it. When the army comes during the slack period, whether Shanzhao Si Village can be defended is also a question. Since there has never been a plan to capture and hold Shanzhao Si Village before, there is no need to create extraneous problems."
Seeing that everyone was still a little confused and dissatisfied, Sena Shijun paused and continued to explain: "Do you understand, what our Imagawa family needs now is to make steady progress instead of too many battles."
"We already have an absolute advantage in the game with the Oda family. We just need to snowball to expand our advantage. When the family governor personally goes to Owari, we can win. Provoking a war is what the Oda family longs for. Only by fishing in troubled waters will they have a chance. Winning in chaos." Sena Ujitoshi pointed to the Zenshoji stronghold around Narumi Castle on the map, "And capturing this Zenshoji stronghold will further confuse the situation and provide an opportunity for both sides to start a war. Because the Oda family is fighting We were unable to capture Narumi Castle, but we had a chance to capture Shanzhao Temple, and we had to send troops to rescue them. This is what we don’t want to see. On the contrary, using food to buy people’s hearts is actually advancing steadily."
"Then, let me talk about the huge benefits this incident has brought to the Imagawa family." Sena Ujitoshi continued to explain, "The Owari Mikawa border has been fighting for many years, and the people have suffered greatly. Our move, It will undoubtedly win the hearts and minds of the people. These people spread word of mouth, and it is undoubtedly a psychological offensive for the wealthy families and people in the entire Owari territory." Toshi Sena paused, "And this time the Oda family happened to play a completely different role than us. The opposite role will undoubtedly make this popular offensive more powerful."
"And releasing the prisoners will also destroy the morale of the Oda family. In the past ten years, the Oda family and the Imagawa family have been incompatible with each other. The captured prisoners are usually escorted to be slaves, so it is not a last resort. , no one in the Oda family is willing to surrender. The release of the prisoners this time is actually a statement that our Imagawa family will no longer embarrass the low-level soldiers of the Oda family. And we will provide relief to the people around Narumi Castle and Odaka Castle. It also expresses the attitude of our Imagawa family, which is to regard the territory around these two cities as owned by the Imagawa family."
"Oh my God," Okuhira Sadakichi whispered in admiration while sitting next to Asahina Taehyung, "Did Momiji figure out so many joints in such a short period of time before coming up with the plan?"
"Fart." Asahina Taehyung snorted unceremoniously and looked at Yu Qiuping, who was sitting opposite him with a look of joy on his face. "That kid is a bad guy. He must have only thought about not letting this thousand people go."
Many people starved to death.”
"As for Okabe-sama of Narumi Castle and Uden-sama of Odaka Castle, I have also obtained understanding through communication with the messengers." Sena Ujitoshi finally said, "The two adults said they will not interfere with our actions.
"
Even so, Sena Ujitoshi had his own plans. The reasons he just explained far-fetchedly were just a cover-up to convince everyone. During this expedition, he understood that Imagawa Yoshimoto's purpose was twofold.
: Training Yu Qiuping and looking for traitors. This negotiation and relief operation will undoubtedly train Yu Qiuping's abilities.
The real purpose of his negotiation with the Oda family was to observe the movements of the traitor. When negotiating with the Oda family, the traitor was very likely to contact the Oda family, so he temporarily went to Okazaki Castle to mobilize a large number of eye-catching teams and ninjas to prepare for surveillance.
The actions and interactions of various high-level officials of the family.
Seeing his subordinates reluctantly agree because they believed in his own judgment, Sena Shitoshi also let out a long sigh.
Finally, it was decided that Yu Qiupei would be responsible for the negotiations with the Oda army. Our bottom line was to return the fifty-odd slaves and relieve the siege of Zenzhao Temple. The bottom line for the Oda family was to allow the Imagawa family's relief troops to be free.
They will not interfere with their comings and goings, and they will verbally promise not to take back the military rations issued.
On the afternoon of February 9, Yu Qiuping sent messengers to various villages, carrying a small amount of rations sufficient to survive, and persuaded the villagers not to flee for the time being, and to wait for news of the negotiations between the Imagawa family and the Oda family.
In less than three quarters, Yu Qiupei completed the formulation of the plan and took Naoe Tadayei, Charlie, Gomaezaki Nakahide, Sena Ujiyoshi, and Honda Nanosuke to ride their horses to the west gate of Zenshoji Village.
"I am the Imagawa family's general, Yu Qiupei!" Yu Qiupei shouted from a few dozen places away from the village gate. "Please see the Oda family's Zenshoji village guard!"
The five people following him also had their own division of labor. Nakahide Omaezaki was responsible for the black face, Naoe Tadayei was responsible for the red face, and Sena Ujiyoshi brought the plan drawn up by Yu Qiupei in case Yu Qiupei temporarily forgot and kept raining.
Akihira kept mumbling in his ears that the Oda family should pay for the food expenses of the more than 50 captives for several days - of course, Yu Qiupei and Sena Ujitoshi vetoed it. Honda Nanosuke followed closely behind Yu Qiupei.
, watching the position of the village gate nervously, and once someone rushes out, he will cover Yu Qiuping's evacuation. Charlie, on the other hand, holds a bow in his left hand and an arrow in his right hand, ready to snipe the archers upstairs who want to shoot Yu Qiuping.
.
After hearing Yu Qiuping's shouts, some of the guards on the camp wall came down from the wall of Yanzhai to report. After a while, a man with a white bandage on his shoulder was helped up to the camp by two people.
The general at the wall responded: "I am Sakuma Nobumori, Lord Yuqiu, why are you here?"
"We're here to negotiate." Yu Qiuping said simply and clearly.
"Negotiation? Then we can only ask you to go back." Sakuma Nobumori snorted coldly, "The Sakuma family has been the wing of the Oda family for generations and will never surrender."
"Your Excellency, you have misunderstood." Yu Qiuping smiled slightly. Such a negotiation process was just in their prior plan. "We are preparing to let you leave." The surrounding Imagawa troops who were besieging the city all looked at Yu Qiuping, leaving him with some
nervous.
Yu Qiuping's words were shocking, and the Oda troops on the camp wall all looked at Yu Qiuping in surprise, with both suspicion and joy.
Sakuma Nobumori was stunned for a moment, then after appreciating Pin's words, he said again: "This is absolutely impossible. I have been ordered to garrison Shanzhao Temple Village, and you must not leave your post without permission, while others are in the village."
"Then let's clear the siege. What do you think?" Yu Qiuping said cheerfully.
This sentence completely detonated the Oda army on the camp wall, and everyone started talking loudly like a pot exploding.
"Quiet!" Sasaki Narimasa next to Sakuma Nobumori shouted loudly. The ashigaru around did not dare to offend this Asura, so they had no choice but to shut up.
"Master Yuqiu, there's no need to beat around the bush. If you have something to say, please tell me directly." Sakuma Nobumori frowned and asked loudly.
"Sakuma-sama is indeed a cheerful person, so I won't be polite." Yu Qiuping said again, "I have been ordered to negotiate with the Oda family. We are willing to lift the siege of Zenshoji Village, but the Oda family must allow us to rescue Jiming. Five villages around Haicheng and Dagao Castle." As soon as Yu Qiuping said this, there was an uproar around him, and even the Imagawa family Ashugaru who had not received specific information were shocked.
"Sir, you understand correctly, they are the five villages under the rule of the Oda family. We do not want you to cede the land, we just want to use military rations to help the people." Yu Qiuping looked directly at Sakuma Nobumori, watching the latter grow more and more satisfied. The more surprised he looked, "Your Excellency, you don't know something. In the past few days, Danxia Village and other Yanzhai controlled by the Oda family confiscated all the grain stored in the hands of the people. Famine is about to break out, so I want to help them."
"Master Yuqiu's condition for letting us leave is just to help the people of our Oda family?" Another person next to Sakuma Nobumori, Sakuma Nobushige asked in surprise.