The gate of Himeji Castle was closed, the walls were heavily guarded, and after Noriharu Kotera shouted under the castle, Himeji Castle was sure that he was the only one, and after the army of the Koji family was far away, the gate of Himeji Castle was opened, and after letting Noriharu Kotera enter the castle, the gate was immediately closed, and someone stepped forward to confiscate the katana and ribs worn by Noriharu Kotera, and only after confirming that he had no weapons did they let him into the castle. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Noriharu Kodera was taken to the reception room of the Imperial Palace, where Takahisa Kotera sat on the top and Inoue sat on the right.

"This is ......" Noriharu Kotera looked at Inoue Nomasa, obviously dissatisfied with the fact that there were other people besides Kodera Takahisa.

"It's okay, this is under the retainers." The reason why Koji Takahisa called Inoue Yumasa here is that after a few days of getting along, he knew that this Inoue Nomasa had a certain ability, at least none of his retainers could compare to him; The second is also because he was sent by Kuroda Zhitaka, and if he summoned the people of the Kotera family alone, it would still be inconvenient, and it would not be so transgressive to bring the retainers of the main family. Kotera Takahisa had long put himself in the position of a retainer of the Kuroda family, not the lord of Himeji Castle.

"The small temple is the ruler of the lord, and the family has not overstepped the behavior, why did the main family send troops here? What is the purpose of sending you to Himeji Castle this time? Koji Takahisa said to Koji Noriji without any tone, his expression was very serious.

"Lord Kodera Takahisa, I think you are mistaken, I am not here on behalf of the Kotera family, I am here to see you Takahisa on my own behalf." Noriharu Kodera said with a smile.

"What? You're not here on behalf of the Kodera family, so why are you here? ”

"Gao Jiu, although my father just accepted you as an adopted son, you are also a member of my Xiaosi family, I don't treat you as an outsider, I just want to tell you that I will inherit the Xiaosi family immediately." When Noriji Koji said this, his eyes flashed, and he was very proud and high-spirited.

"What? You're coming to inherit the Kodera family? Are you sure there's nothing wrong with what you're saying? Why do you have the right to inherit your family? The lord is still alive and well, and the lord of the family, Saimaru, is smart and clever, why would you inherit the Koji family? And please atone for your sins, let me say that your Excellency has never made any contribution to the small temple family for more than 30 years, why should you inherit my small temple family? Kotera Takahisa was very angry when he heard Kotera Noriharu's words, but Inoue Yumasa, who had not spoken on the side, squinted at Kotera Noriharu and thought thoughtfully

Kotera Noriharu and other Kotera Takahisa were angry, Kotera Takahisa's words really made him unable to calm down, especially the last sentence, he has never made any contribution to the Kotera family for more than 30 years, and he directly said that he was a waste to the Kotera family from birth to the present, isn't it?

In fact, Koji Takahisa is right, even Koji Zezhi himself knows the character of his second generation of officials, there used to be a set of fights and troubles, and he was an idler in his family after Yuan Fu, and he never made any useful remarks on all evaluations and major events, and he belonged to a centrist, to put it bluntly, he knew that he didn't have that level, so it was better not to speak, less to say and less wrong, not to say good, this is his mentality when he sat in the retainers and watched others crisscross and point out the country. But now that he was directly broken by Koji Takahisa, he would still feel a little uncomfortable in his heart.

But now that he is not in power, he can only smile bitterly and swallow his breath into his stomach. He wondered if he could wait for himself to take power and see if he could take revenge on those who had mocked and ridiculed him!

"Takahisa, I admit that I didn't contribute much to the Kodera family, but now is an opportunity for me and the Kuroda family!"

"Opportunity? What chances? ”

"Let's put it this way! We brothers are more direct with each other, I will replace my brother later, I have been planning for a long time, to tell you the truth, now even if I don't rely on you Kuroda family, I can realize this plan. Now my little temple Noriji needs the support of your Kuroda family, so that my rule will be more solid. The elder brother is narrow-minded, easy to be provoked by others, and hesitant to deal with things, and the Kuroda family has suffered a lot over the years!

If you Kuroda family can support me in seizing the position of the governor of the Koji family, I will make a few guarantees here, first, your Kuroda family is still the old and important minister of my Kotera family; Second, I admit that your Kuroda family is semi-independent, and that all the actions and decisions of your Kuroda family will not interfere with it, but if the Kodera family has military operations or is attacked, please ask the Kuroda family to help; The third is that the annual tribute paid by the Kuroda family to the Kodera family has been reduced to 50% of the original, and the Kuroda family's annual tribute is only calculated according to the current standard of 10,000 koku, and the land will increase in the future, which will not be counted. ”

After Kotera Noriharu finished talking about his conditions, Kotera Takahisa gasped, this is simply a disguised recognition of the Kuroda family's independence from the main family, and the recognition of the Kuroda family's daimyo identity. When Kodera Takahisa heard these conditions, he really didn't know how to act for a while, because he really couldn't think of how to refuse such conditions. If he agrees to his conditions, the Kuroda family can officially develop independently, and will no longer be constrained by the main family, and truly embark on the path of rapid development, which is definitely beneficial to the Kuroda family.

But Kotera Takahisa still maintained a trace of rationality, and did not speak immediately, but glanced at Inoue Nomasa next to him, Inoue Nomasa shook his head gently, the movement was very hidden, Kotera Takahisa saw it, but Kotera Noriharu did not notice. Inoue Yukimasa actually called himself disagreeing with his terms, why is this? The Kuroda family probably won't refuse! What would his brother Kuroda do if he were here? What will the small temple vocational high school do?

Thinking of this, Koji Takahisa seemed to have thought about something clearly, and immediately asked, "I don't know who in my family supports you to become the family governor?" ”

"This, for the time being, there are only Fujioka Kuro and a few Ashigaru generals. But as long as you Kuroda family support me, I think the Kushihashi family, the Xiaohe family, and some neutral retainers, as well as the country's wealthy families, will definitely support me. ”

I see, Kodera Takahisa finally figured out the key to the matter. The reason why such lucrative conditions are given is because Xiaosi governs himself, and he has no foundation and status in the Xiaosi family at all, not to mention the political position of Xiaosi as the governor of the family, that is, as an adopted son, he worships several brothers of the Hao clan in the Ling, and it is not something that he Xiaosi Zezhi can contend with. In addition, over the years, he has not performed at all at home, and there are too many suspicious and uncertain factors for him to come out to compete for the position of family governor.

First of all, he mentioned that the only retainer who clearly supported him was Fujioka Kuro, so his struggle for the position of family governor must be Fujioka Kuro's plan, and this person and the Kuroda family are not in harmony now, if the Koji Noriji elected by him is in power, will it really be good for the Kuroda family? Of course not, I will definitely come up with various ways to stumble on the Kuroda family and find things, and from this point on, the Kuroda family will not be able to support Koji Noriji.

Secondly, in the Warring States Period, although the heroes rose together, righteousness and ethics collapsed, for the sake of power, the lower restraint, the son killed the father, and the brothers killed each other in an endless stream, but on the surface, everyone still paid great attention to the name of righteousness, if the Kuroda family turned their backs on the main family at this time, and threw themselves into the Koji family, the Kuroda family and the Kotera Noriharu became the ministers of the betrayal of the lord together, and lost the important name of righteousness, no matter how much land can be occupied this time, as long as the surrounding heroes attack the Kuroda family in the name of righteousness, it is likely that the Kuroda family has been trapped in the war, Not being able to digest the territory, and in the end will be dragged to death by the non-stop war, this is the most terrifying. So even if the Kuroda family is independent now, on the surface, they still have to support the rule of Kodera and be a loyal minister on the surface.

Third, Noriharu Kotera has few supporters, basically it can be said that except for Fujioka Kuro's subordinates, basically in the Kodera family, he can't get any help, even if the Kuroda family supports him, the Kushihashi family and the Kogawa family will not necessarily support Kotera Noriharu, and Kotera Noriharu will either become a puppet of the Kuroda family or a puppet of Fujioka Kuro after coming to power, and I don't know how many incidents will be caused by the time.