Shimazu Kujing took the letter from Kikuchi Takebo's hand, and when he saw the familiar handwriting on the letter, he was overjoyed, and hurriedly opened the letter to see that it was full of suspicions.

Shimazu pondered for a long time, looked up and saw Kikuchi Takefang in front of him with a calm face, and couldn't help asking: "Is Jiuchang under house arrest by Cheng Yue?" Why not come back? Was this letter really written by him willingly? ”

Kikuchi Takefang bowed down and said: "Since the prince has been captured by the prince, he naturally can't come back, but the prince treats us very well, and the prince has not suffered any crimes." ”

Shimazu sneered and said, "Cheng Yue thinks that he can coerce me if he detains me for a long time?" ”

Kikuchi Takefang shook his head and smiled: "The prince didn't mean to blackmail Lord Shimazu, but wanted to protect the Shimazu family. The king's capture of Japan is a foregone conclusion, whether it is Fujiwara-sama or Hojo-sama, there is no way to block the king's attack, in this case, it is better to throw himself under the prince's command, and the Shimazu clan can still continue in Kyushu. ”

Shimazu was furious, pressed his hand on the saber at his waist, and shouted, "Presumptuous! Who said we couldn't beat the Mongols and the Song? We fought them once last time, and this time we are far better than last time, will we fail? ”

Kikuchi Takefang's face remained unchanged, and he said lightly: "Last time, only Xindu led a total of 15,000 Mongolian soldiers and Goryeo soldiers to attack Japan, and this time the prince led a total of more than 200,000 people, and the soldiers were well fed, and they were led by the prince himself, how can Japan resist?" ”

Shimazu sneered: "More than 200,000! You have fought for a few days, do you really think that Cheng Yue has more than 200,000 people? I see a maximum of 150,000! ”

Kikuchi Takefang smiled, "Have you forgotten that the red horse is closed?" The prince has ordered 120,000 horses to attack Chima Pass, and the troops are all led by famous generals of the Yuan and Song dynasties, and I heard that there are new weapons used to attack the fortifications. There's no reason to miss a shot. ”

Shimazu was taken aback. blurted out: "120,000 people! You've not been deceived, have you? ”

Kikuchi Takefang said: "It's true. The prince already knew the terrain of Japan well, otherwise how would he choose Shikashima to start? The fortifications that we Japan built with great effort were easily broken by the prince, do you think it was accidental? ”

Shimazu was speechless for a long time, and looked at the retainers around him.

The head of the Shimazu family's royal family, Arisaka Yoshi, said: "In your opinion, how strong is Cheng Yue's troops?" Can it be stronger than the Hojo clan? ”

Kikuchi Takefang shook his head and said, "I don't know. I only know that the previous day against Otomo-sama, Fukuda-sama, and Ada-sama were all the Goryeo troops from the last time, and the Mongol cavalry and the generals under the command of the prince did not move. When he attacked the beachhead yesterday, the prince also sent only one general. He broke through the Chinese army of Adachi-sama, and the famous Kwantung samurai suffered a crushing defeat. There are at least ten or so generals like this, and there are at least ten or so around the prince. ”

Yoshicho Arisaka was shocked and shouted, "You are talking nonsense! With such a ghostly man, how could Cheng Yue still have so many! ”

Kikuchi Takefang said: "Don't hide it from your lords, yesterday evening, there were more than a dozen of us standing near the prince, but there were not a few people around the prince. At that time, we wanted to join forces and take the risk of assassinating the prince, if we could get away with it. The great deeds we have made are enough for us to eat for several lifetimes. But as soon as we made a move, four inconspicuous monks beside the prince knocked us all to the ground. I've grown so big. It's really the first time I've seen such powerful characters, and I didn't even see their shots clearly, and I couldn't help it if I wanted to. ”

"Monk? The monk is so powerful?! The people of the Shimazu clan were amazed.

Kikuchi Takefang nodded and said, "If we didn't see it with our own eyes, we would have a hard time believing it." The prince has a thousand monks, and I don't know how many masters there are, even if they are not as good as these four monks, they will not be far behind. In addition, the prince himself is also a famous general in the world, and I heard that the prince has never tasted defeat whether he is fighting alone or leading the army. Whether it is the Mongols, the Song people or the Goryeo people I have met, they all respect the prince, and even believe that the prince is a god descending from the earth, invincible and invincible. ”

Shimazu was silent after hearing this, and he didn't know what he was thinking, and after a long time, he said: "You failed to assassinate, Cheng Yue didn't kill you?" ”

Kikuchi Takefang said: "We don't have weapons, and the elder swore in front of the prince that he would be loyal to the prince from now on, so the prince made an exception and didn't kill us." However, the prince also said first, we all owe the prince a finger, and after the prince conquers the whole territory of Japan, we will cut it off and send it to the prince to make amends. ”

Shimazu said in disbelief: "But Cheng Yue let you go?!" ”

Kikuchi Takefang said: "Yes, the prince said that since we are loyal to him, he believes in us, even if we betray him again, we don't have to show mercy when we meet on the battlefield in the future." I was moved by the prince's words, and finally made up my mind to work for the prince. ”

The words made everyone in the Shimazu clan admire, but Shimazu still didn't believe it, and said, "Then what did he do when he stayed for a long time?" It's all a lie. ”

Kikuchi Wufang said: "The prince has three intentions for staying for a long time. First, the long-term elder can serve as the interpreter of the prince. The second is that the elder is familiar with the guardians and royal families in various parts of Japan, and the prince often asks him to recognize people. The third is that the prince wants to keep the Shimazu family, and if the Shimazu family attacks the prince, the elder can come forward. ”

Shimazu stared at Kikuchi Takefang's eyes and said, "What if I really attack Cheng Yue?" ”

Kikuchi Takefang said: "The prince said very clearly, the elder is innocent, and all the people of the Shimazu tribe who do not listen to persuasion and insist on attacking the prince will be annihilated." ”

Shimazu said word by word: "In other words, even if I make up my mind to be an enemy of Cheng Yue and kill Cheng Yue's soldiers and horses, Cheng Yue will not be unfavorable to Jiuchang, right?" ”

Kikuchi Takefang smiled, "Yes." Before I came, the prince said to me that Shimazu-sama might want to test his strength, and he asked Shimazu-sama to try it, as long as he didn't regret it. ”

Shimazu sneered, "What can I regret? How can an enemy kill in front of him and surrender without a fight? That's too much to look down on! ”

Kikuchi Takefang smiled, "My lord is very good. He bowed deeply and said, "If the prince wants me to bring it, I have already told the lord." I also gave the letter that the elder asked me to carry. I've got some business to do, so I'll leave it at that. ”

Seeing that he was in a hurry to leave, Arisaka Yoshicho couldn't help but be vigilant, and hurriedly asked, "What are you going to do?" (To be continued.) )