Like Tachibana Muneshige, when they learned that the Chinese envoy had arrived outside Nara with his army, almost all the generals secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Recently, they had all been overwhelmed by Ii Naotaka's army.

, I have always been looking forward to receiving reinforcements, and now that my wish has come true, I will naturally feel relieved.

After Zhou Pu learned about the situation on Tachibana Muneshige's side, he also stepped up his efforts to urge his troops to move forward as soon as possible to prevent the front line from collapsing.

The Han army was ready to go, and the news that it was about to land on Honshu Island was quickly passed to Zhou Pu, which also made him very excited. As the main force of the Han army landed on Honshu Island, they originally planned to hit the shogunate in two directions at the same time.

The plan will finally be realized, and this will be a blow that the shogunate cannot bear.

But he also knows that now is the most critical moment. As the saying goes, a person who travels a hundred miles is only half a century old. The closer to the end, the more mistakes must be made, otherwise the achievements that have been carefully built will be in vain, or at least be greatly eclipsed.

Although the situation has been decided now and the Han Dynasty has overwhelmed the shogunate, he does not want to lose points when the court discusses merit and rewards.

The movement of the Han army to Nara was so powerful that it was impossible to hide it from the enemy forces on the opposite side. The sentinels sent by the shogunate army reported what they saw to Ii Naotaka, and Ii Naotaka immediately ended his own

A carefully prepared attack, but instead retracted the army back to the camp - Tachibana Munesege thought that Ii Naotaka hastily ended the last general attack because Ii Naotaka was cautious by nature. In fact, this was also because he had heard that the reinforcements had arrived.

news, so this decision was made.

Relying on the troops he had, Ii Naotaka dared to launch attacks against Tachibana Muneshige again and again, but he was not so bold to seek a decisive battle against the Han army, especially since he thought there would be a large number of Han troops among them.

After many bloody lessons, the shogunate, although still very tough on the surface, was deeply frightened by the sharp artillery fire and weapons of the Han army, and no longer dared to engage in a decisive battle with them. Especially in this precarious situation.

Under such circumstances, Naotaka Ii did not dare to take risks even more.

Under the threat of the approaching army, Naotaka Ii changed his previous pressure, continued to gather his troops, and then began to retreat step by step. It seemed that he wanted to reorganize his army and confront the Han invaders.

After many days of fierce fighting, Ii Naotaka had given up his plan to recapture Kinki and Kyoto. He no longer had the courage to fight to the death with the Han army and recapture the capital in one go. Instead, he planned to stalemate and consume the enemy army in order to let the Han army

Suffer unbearable losses.

After General Ii Naotaka withdrew his troops, the fighting under Nara Castle temporarily came to an end. The surviving officers and soldiers cleaned up the battlefield that was already littered with corpses, while waiting for the arrival of the Chinese envoys.

Just two days later, Zhou Pu arrived at the gate of Nara Castle.

Tachibana Munushige and other generals gathered around him. Except for Tachibana Muneshige, these people were a little scared at this time. They had all thought of retreating before, but the Han envoy arrived in Nara so quickly. If

If we really retreat, we will definitely be punished by this gentleman.

After Kyushu Island was completely occupied by the Shimazu family, these daimyo were very eager to get new territory on Honshu Island as compensation, and they relied heavily on the Han envoys to grant rewards, so these people were very interested in Zhou Pu.

He was so frightened that no one dared to offend him even a little bit.

So when Zhou Pu came to the Administrative Office in Nara City.

In the silence, Zhou Pu, who was dressed in robes, walked to the center of the lobby without squinting. Behind him, Nijo Yasudou, the Lord of the Imperial Court of Japan, also followed suit. The two of them turned together to face these daimyo.

and generals.

"See my lord!"

The daimyo and generals on both sides, as if they were meeting a general, knelt down in the center of the government office, bowing their heads and waiting for punishment. Because of Zhou Pu's victory along the way, his status in the hearts of this group of people also became higher and higher.

He was getting higher and higher, and when he was sullen, these people were a little frightened.

"Raise your head." Zhou Pu still had a sullen face, as if he was a little unhappy, "You have followed me all the way on the expedition and served bravely in several battles. Today we are able to reach here, and you all have contributed a lot. I want to be here.

Thank you all.”

No one answered, everyone bowed their heads quietly and listened to the instructions of the ministers.

"Not long ago, our army captured Kyoto. This is the greatest victory we have achieved since we launched our troops!" When speaking of this, Zhou Pu also deliberately increased his voice, "Now that Kyoto has been pacified, your country

The imperial court will soon return to Kyoto, and then it will be able to rule Japan legitimately, and you will also be rewarded based on your previous achievements. I have already written a merit book before, clearly listing the meritorious deeds you have made along the way.

, please rest assured, we big guys always reward those who have merit!"

Following his words, these generals couldn't help but become a little eager. They followed the Han, weren't they expecting these rewards? Now everyone knows that the court must listen to the Han, so as long as the envoys of the Han decide to reward them heavily, then the rewards will be

Absolutely indispensable.

However, when they were still secretly happy in their hearts, Zhou Pu changed his tune again, "But we will not only reward those who have made merit, but also punish those who have made mistakes!"

The stern tone was like a basin of cold water poured into everyone's heart, and everyone hurriedly lowered their heads again.

"Shimazu Michihisa!" Zhou Pu suddenly focused his attention on one of the people.

The loud shout made Shimazu Michiju panic, but he didn't dare to respond, so he had to raise his head and responded in a low voice. "The general will be here..."

"Two days ago, you were so afraid of the enemy that you actually told the general that you wanted to retreat. Is this possible?" Zhou Pu immediately looked at the other party sternly and then asked.

Shimazu Michiko didn't dare to look at him for a long time, and hurriedly lowered his gaze, and sweat slowly broke out on his forehead.

During the march along the way, because of Zhou Pu's strength and determination, as well as his repeated victories, he was already very afraid of this envoy of the Celestial Dynasty, and did not dare to show the same behavior in front of him as he did in front of Tachibana Muneshige.

The same arrogance.

"Sir...this matter is actually...actually..."

"Is this happening?" Zhou Pu didn't give the other party a chance to breathe.

"Yes." Seeing that he could not escape the questioning, Shimazu Michihisa had no choice but to admit, but he immediately began to explain, "Sir, our department had fought with the enemy in successive battles and suffered huge losses. Later, the department was exhausted.

? We are a little reluctant to retreat. It’s not that we are timid, we are just too exhausted from the fight... Please be careful, sir!"

"I know that your troops fought bravely before, but are you the only one who is fighting bravely? Why don't other troops fight bravely, but you are thinking of retreating?" Zhou Pu still did not let him go.

Meaning, "Also, you still threaten the general, and you also say that you want to do whatever you want. Is this a problem?"

"The general did not ask the general... it's just... our Shimazu family has made it clear to you before..." Shimazu Michihisa quickly explained for himself.

"Even if it happened before, you can't disobey the general!" Zhou Pu interrupted him directly, "Military discipline is the most important thing in the army, and whether to advance or retreat is something that only the general can decide. Do you want to do it for the general?

Have you decided? Tachibana Munushige is the general I personally selected. As a general, you should obey his orders. However, you want to do things on your own. Do you understand your guilt?"

"Sir..." Shimazu Michihisa wanted to say something else.

"No need to say any more!" Zhou Pu waved his hand directly, letting the soldiers outside the house come in, and grabbed Shimazu Michihisa directly from the ground, "I said, we big men will be rewarded for their merits, and punished for their crimes. This time you committed a crime

According to the military law of the Han Dynasty, I should have been directly executed. However, I followed us all the way north before you and performed meritorious service in the battle, so today I will be punished for the battle. After the battle, I will be sent directly back to my place of origin.

Think about it!"

As soon as he said this, not only Shimazu Michihisa looked horrified, but also the other generals turned pale, and were shocked by the thundering fury of the Han envoy. No one dared to speak for Shimazu Michitsu, but each one

In silence, some people were still glad that they did not express their intention to withdraw from the general.

Zhou Pu ignored Shimazu Michihisa's constant pleas for mercy and directly asked his own soldiers to pull Shimazu Michihisa out to blame him. Soon Shimazu Michihisa's screams were heard in the house, although it was not serious.

His life will definitely be damaged.

"Have you all seen this? This is what happens when you disobey military orders and have no authority." Zhou Pu looked at the group of pale-faced people and said calmly, "If anyone dares to do this again in the future, then don't do it."

Blame me for being heartless!”

He chose to rebuke Shimazu Michihisa, of course, not just to give Tachibana Munesege a sigh of relief. Recently, his headquarters has been winning a lot of battles, so Zhou Pu feels that his subordinates have some tendency to be arrogant and tough, and he must kill them.

This kind of arrogance, even if it means killing a chicken to scare the monkeys, will make these generals know to be afraid.

At the same time, the previous actions of the Shimazu family made him a little angry, especially the fact that he claimed that he would only fight within Kinki and refused to help. Although he had given the Shimazu family great benefits in order to buy horse bones for a thousand gold,

But now, he no longer relies so much on the Shimadzu family's help, so he plans to give the Shimadzu family a beating to make them understand who has the final say now, which can also be regarded as a foreshadowing for continuing to control the Shimadzu family in the future.

What's more, now that he is facing a powerful enemy, he will never tolerate any disobedience to orders.

After Shimazu Michihisa was dragged down and severely punished, the others knelt on the ground and did not dare to express their anger. After achieving the purpose of beating them, Zhou Pu no longer continued to keep a straight face, but relaxed a little.

Then he turned to look at Nijo Yasudou, who had been silent, and made a gesture to let him speak.

Nijo Yasudou glanced at this group of people, feeling a little complicated.

The majesty shown by the envoy of the Celestial Dynasty just now is what he has been striving for. He dreams of restoring the imperial court to its former authority, commanding the whole world, and making the great names obey. But he also knows that these people are now afraid of being obeyed.

It was the big man who was interested, not himself, and even he himself could only show respect to the big man.

With this helpless feeling, he cleared his throat, and then looked at the group of daimyo kneeling on the ground.

"You have fought bravely all the way, defeated the enemy troops many times, and helped the imperial court regain the capital. It can be said that you have made great contributions to the country. The imperial court is very grateful to you for your great contributions to supporting the country and the country, and has decided to reward you with land. I hope you can continue

Move forward with determination, keep your fiefdom in mind from generation to generation, and continue to serve the court!"

Then, he asked people to present pieces of paper to each general in the queue.

After the opening of the Edo shogunate, each feudal lord must obtain a certificate of security from the shogunate before he can continue to claim territory. Only with confirmation from the shogunate can these territories be considered legal and passed down from generation to generation.

And these security warrants are definitely not applicable now. Now that the imperial court has returned, only the security warrants presented in the name of the court can be regarded as legal confirmation of territory - this is also an attempt to expand the influence of the court when it is unable to restrain the daimyo of various places.

way.

Now that the fight has come, it's time to reward them for their meritorious service. Zhou Pu decided to fulfill his promise to give these people hope to continue fighting.

Under the watchful eyes of Nijo Yasudou, pieces of security signs were presented to specific people. Some people cheered, some seemed dissatisfied, and some had calm expressions on their faces, as if they didn't feel anything.

——Tachibana Munesege is one of them. Although he was sealed off from the large territories of Ise Country, Owari Country and Mino Country, he was the biggest beneficiary of this security blockade, almost 800,000 koku.

"What, General Tachibana is not satisfied with today's reward?" Zhou Pu walked up to him and faced him with a rare smile. "In my opinion, the reward this time is enough."

"Your Excellency is so kind to me, how dare I be dissatisfied!" Tachibana Muneshige immediately knelt down and knelt down to him, "It's just that now that we are facing a powerful enemy, it's really not the time to celebrate. After we defeat the shogunate, I will come and thank you on behalf of the whole clan.

!”

"Although the shogunate has not been defeated yet, since such great achievements have been made, it doesn't matter if we celebrate a little first." Zhou Pu smiled even more cheerfully.

He was indeed very happy for Tachibana Munushige's good behavior.
To be continued...