Similarly, for Ishida Mitsunari, Toyotomi Hidetsugu's stance was very important.
After losing Maeda Toshiie's sympathy and protection, Ishida Mitsunari immediately felt that he was in danger. Right now, the only one who could protect him was Toyotomi Hidetsugu. He had to rely firmly on Toyotomi Hidetsugu's side. Otherwise, even if he could gather the troops in his territory to protect himself, he would still be no match for the military generals.
To be precise, Maeda Toshiie's death had broken the balance of power within the Toyotomi Clan. Right now, Toyotomi Hidetsugu and Ishida Mitsunari had reached an agreement on their interests.
They needed to join hands to balance the military generals. Otherwise, Toyotomi Hidetsugu would become a veritable puppet in the near future.
This was a situation that Toyotomi Hidetsugu absolutely could not accept.
Therefore, Toyotomi Hidetsugu decided to do something.
This was the main reason why he sheltered Ishida Mitsunari in his own mansion. It was also the reason why he dismissed the six military generals who requested an audience outside. Now, he needed Ishida Mitsunari to gather the forces that he could gather and officially become his supporters. Together, they would rebuild the balance of power within the Toyotomi Clan.
With the Qin Army's withdrawal and the Tokugawa Army's takeover of the Ishidami Silver Mine, they would rebuild this balance and lay the foundation for the upcoming battle.
Therefore, he needed to reach an agreement with Ishida Mitsunari, and then negotiate with the military generals together. Once both sides reached an agreement, they would enter a state of war.
In fact, the words that Maeda Toshiie told Toyotomi Hidetsugu before his death, Toyotomi Hidetsugu remembered them all. However, whether it was against the Tokugawa Army or the Qin Army, war preparations were indispensable.
Before that, the Toyotomi Clan must reach an agreement.
"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I'm fine. I just need to rest for a few days."
Ishida Mitsunari expressed his willingness to submit to Toyotomi Hidetsugu. "Thank you for your protection, Your Highness. Otherwise, I really don't know how to leave the Maeda mansion."
Toyotomi Hidetsugu soon learned of Ishida Mitsunari's desire to cooperate. He was very happy that Ishida Mitsunari was a very tactful person. In this way, Ishida Mitsunari's civil faction and his retainers could combine and become an important force to contend against the military generals.
Now that he thought about it, it was a mistake for him to approach the military generals and interact with them frequently. He should have known that if Maeda Toshiie died, the situation would become like this today. Fortunately, he managed to protect Ishida Mitsunari.
"Shida-kun, I won't say anything else. You know the current situation very well. Maeda has passed away, and the Qin Army is making a series of moves. The Tokugawa Clan has already sent people to Wu Weizhong to make the handover. It seems that they are determined to take down Shi Jian. In any case, we can't just sit and wait for death."
Of course, Ishida Mitsunari could understand what Toyotomi Hidetsugu meant. Therefore, he decisively knelt on the ground and expressed his willingness to submit to Toyotomi Hidetsugu.
This was the first time that Ishida Mitsunari decided not to cooperate with Toyotomi Hideyoshi on the basis of cooperation. This was purely a tacit understanding between Ishida Mitsunari and Toyotomi Hidetsugu. There were no other factors involved in this cooperation.
For example, in the beginning, Ishida Mitsunari had the idea of working for Toyotomi Hidetsugu to repay Toyotomi Hideyoshi's kindness.
After this fight, Ishida Mitsunari had more or less gained some emotional intelligence. He finally realized that Toyotomi Hidetsugu didn't seem to like him mentioning Toyotomi Hideyoshi and comparing him to Toyotomi Hidetsugu.
Toyotomi Hidetsugu was Toyotomi Hidetsugu, not Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
After this tacit understanding was reached, Toyotomi Hidetsugu was very satisfied. Therefore, he held a meeting the next day.
Asano Yukinaga and Yukita Hidetsugu led the radical faction and the moderate faction for a real meeting to decide the fate of the Toyotomi clan. The purpose of this meeting was to determine the action program and guidelines of the Toyotomi clan in the post- Maeda Toshiie era.
Ishida Mitsunari assisted Toyotomi Hidetsugu to summarize the main points in a short night according to Maeda Toshiie's last suggestion before he died.
The core was war. Toyotomi Hidetsugu requested the Daimyo faction to immediately mobilize the military in their own territories. He needed at least 150,000 troops to conquer the world. This required everyone's wisdom and efforts.
The method of action was to immediately mobilize the troops to fight for the Ishikami area and fight the Tokugawa clan after determining the purpose of the Qin Army to put down the rebellion.
After confirming that the Qin Army was not there to put down the rebellion, but had other plans, they immediately started the negotiation with the Tokugawa clan. The two sides formed a united front to fight against Xiao Ruxun's upcoming invasion. No mistakes were allowed, and no one was allowed to get in the way.
This was the toughest order Toyotomi Hidetsugu had made since he ascended the throne. The tough attitude and strict form made Yukita Hidetsugu the first to show his obedience.
Yukita Hidetsugu was well aware of the horror of Xiao Ruxun and the Qin Army. In the face of Toyotomi Hidetsugu's request, Yukita Hidetsugu said that he would definitely follow his will and obey the order on behalf of the moderate faction.
After the moderate faction obeyed the order, the radical faction headed by Asano Yukinaga also had to comply. Although he was very indignant about the purpose of joining forces with Tokugawa Ieyasu, when he heard that the premise was the Qin Army's invasion, Asano Yukinaga suddenly remembered what happened seven years ago.
The world was big, and the national enemy was the biggest. Compared with Xiao Ruxun, Tokugawa Ieyasu was just a mouse.
With the death of Maeda Toshiie and the awakening of Toyotomi Hidetsugu, Toyotomi Hidetsugu and Ishida Mitsunari reached an alliance of monarch and minister, which then influenced the actions of the moderate faction and the radical faction. The goals of the entire Toyotomi clan were unexpectedly unified after the death of Maeda Toshiie.
This was far beyond Tokugawa Ieyasu's expectation. Of course, when he found out about it, he had already occupied most of Ishijian's territory.
The Qin Army's retreat was very fast. It seemed that they were determined to retreat. Twenty-three thousand troops retreated. According to the information from Tokugawa Ieyasu's tracking ship, the Qin Army's troop transport ships sailed directly to the area of Zhejiang and Fujian. They did not stop at areas such as Korea and Tsushima Island. It did not seem that they had other plans.
Tokugawa Ieyasu's doubts gradually diminished, but his vigilance did not disappear. He ordered a full mobilization to prepare for the war with Toyotomi. At the same time, he also moved his station further east, in case the Qin Army launched a surprise attack from the sea and ended up like Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
He did not trust the Qin Army, not at all. As for Xiao Ruxun, he was not afraid to speculate the worst. If it were not for the great harvest this time, he would not be moved. But now it was hard to get off. If he did not make a move, Toyotomi Hideyoshi would definitely make a move.
No matter what, he had to eat Ishijian first. This was his decision.
At the same time, he prepared for the war in the western coastal area. He moved the people inland, set up traps along the way, and polluted the water. He made advance preparations for the Qin Army's possible landing on the island.
In short, Tokugawa Ieyasu, the old fox, did not believe that the Daqin would be kind to him at all. He decided to make two preparations. One was the decisive battle with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and the other was the war with the Daqin to defend the country.
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