Fukuoka, the new army camp of the Motoki, command center.

Standing in front of the huge sand table, Xiao Mingliang held his hands and rubbed his chin with his beard, but his eyes were staring at the mountainous areas west of Kyoto. As for the three quarries and ones of Kyoto, he was naturally not worried that the Japanese army would still fight, but deliberately instigated the Japanese king to flee west.

At present, the Japanese have been cut off from Nagoya to Atsugaku. The entire Japanese attack plan is divided into two stages, first south and then north. However, due to insufficient troops, it is necessary to avoid the war between the two north and south sides at the same time. The reason why the Japanese king is to escape west is to eliminate the southern vassals when pursuing the Japanese king, but not to frighten the shogunate.

Just as he was thinking, a staff officer walked up to him and reported: "Commander, Nagoya calls, yesterday, the defenders stationed in Zhongshan Road ambushed more than a thousand elite Japanese troops at Xingjing Office, and arrested several Japanese officials..."

"Only a few Japanese officials were arrested?" Xiao Mingliang asked. With the cooperation of the shogunate, they set up ambush on Zhongshan Road, Tokaido and several small roads. Their main target was the King of Japan, but they were not Japanese officials.

"Yes, among all the prisoners, there are no 16 or 17. Among the arrested officials, the highest-ranking official was Masami Inaha, who is one of the old masters in the shogunate."

Inoye Masashi is an old master who is highly valued by Tokugawa Ishimatsu. Xiao Mingliang naturally understood it. However, he was not interested in this person and immediately ordered: "Tell me the shopkeeper, Inoye Masashi is temporarily detained in Nagoya."

Soon, Yishizui's call came back, and the content was very simple - the gift of the Inoki Ye Masashi returned to Edo.

After reading the telegram, Xiao Mingliang frowned and said, "Is the principal showing goodwill to the shogunate?"

"It's not to show kindness, it's to stabilize the shogunate." Guo Zhongmu smiled and said, "The purpose of "Masashi Ye in Kyoto is to promote the reunion of the Kungwu family and send him back to Edo. There may be the intention of testing the shogunate's reaction."

Xiao Mingliang said in a slow voice: "I am worried that it will be backfire. If the shogunate knows the details of Kyoto, he will probably not sit still and wait for death."

"The shogunate is not ignorant of the situation in Kyoto." Guo Zhongmou sneered: "They are just pretending not to know."

Edo, pier.

When he stepped onto the dock and saw a group of shogunate officials coming up quickly, Masami Ina still felt unreal. He looked back and saw the officer responsible for escorting him on the Qing army warship, who was smiling and waving to him. He bent down and bowed. No matter what, the other party's attitude was still very friendly when he came all the way from Nagoya.

He stood up and waited for the greeting officials to come to him. He didn't even say a polite greeting and said straight: "Go to the General's Mansion."

Outside the gate of the general's mansion, I saw Matsuhira Masashi coming down from the sedan chair. Katsue Matsuhira greeted him with a smile and bowed, "Masashi Kyun is frightened."

Inaya Masami was really frightened this time. It was a blessing to be able to return to Edo alive. After paying a gift, he said, "Can the Lord improve his condition?"

After hearing this, Katsuhira Matsuhei sighed lightly and shook his head slowly, "It's getting worse and worse..."

In times of trouble and in times of crisis, the king of heaven was young and the general was seriously ill. Could it be that heaven was about to destroy the Japanese? Inuye Masashi took a deep breath and walked into the door.

Outside the Tokugawa family's bedside hall, Ye Masamu saw Tadaru Sakai waiting outside. After coming up to see him, Tadaru Sakai said with a stern face: "The Lord is weak and should not be stimulated."

Inoye Masami said in a deep voice: "The situation is so serious that I must report it truthfully." As he said that, he walked around and went straight into the bedroom, headed straight to Tokugawa Ishimatsu and knelt down before the collapse of Tokugawa Ishimatsu.

Seeing someone coming in, Tokugawa Ishimao tried hard to hold up and lay halfway down, and said in a weak voice: "It's good to be back safely."

Seeing that Imao was getting weaker and weaker, he was still thinking about his safety. Inuye Masami's nose felt sore and his voice was choked, "The Qing Dynasty not only wanted to destroy our country, but to destroy our clan. I dared to ask the Lord to send troops to lift the siege of Kyoto!"

Tadaru Sakai, who followed him in, heard this and hurriedly said, "Even if you send troops, you can't lift the siege of Kyoto." After a pause, he continued, "Yuanqi destroyed countless countries, and there has never been a precedent for extermination of clans."

"Millions of refugees gathered in Kyoto's capital, and a large number of refugees starved to death at all times. If it delays for more than a month, one out of ten must be left. So cruel, what is it if it is not annihilation of the clan?" Inuye Masami said sternly: "The king of heaven mercies with the people, voluntarily went to the Qing capital to meet the beg for surrender. He sent envoys to the Qing army camp repeatedly, but were all killed. This is definitely not an ordinary conquest, but sincerely trying to destroy the country and the clan!"

Although the Qing army strictly blocked the news, the shogunate was full of ears and ears in Kyoto and had its own secret communication methods. Ichimao and others knew everything about the gathering of refugees in Kyoto and starving people everywhere. However, Meiji had never heard of the murder of the Qing army camp several times. Everyone was shocked. Yasuo-young Matsuhira said with a pale face: "The two countries are fighting and not killing the envoys, but the Qing army is so cruel?"

Inuye Masashi said in a deep voice: "I sent envoys three times, and only one follower was cut off and put back."

The Qing army did not even allow surrender! The room was quiet. After a while, Tadatsuki Sakai said: "The Qing army intends to cut off the inheritance of our royal family. It is also expected that the Qing army will not allow surrender. The Qing army has excellent weapons, strong combat power, and even more cruel and ruthless. We cannot let Edo become the second Kyoto!"

The shogunate army was far from a rival to the Qing army. The shogunate knew this very well. This was also the reason why the shogunate acted deaf and stupid even though he knew the situation in Kyoto, because even if he sent troops to reinforce Kyoto, he could not lift the siege of Kyoto. Instead, he would attract the Qing army to attack Edo. Instead, he would rather abandon Kyoto and Possess Edo.

After hearing this, Masami Inaba sneered: "If you don't resist, you can protect Edo? After the Qing army captured Kyoto, they will inevitably turn their guns to attack Edo!"

Tadatoshi Sakai glanced at him and said nothing. The shogunate had an agreement with Yuanqi to allow the shogunate to surrender. Although the shogun controlled the real power of Japan, there was no right to be a good man. The Qing army was not allowed to kill them. In addition, Yuanqi had a harmonious relationship with the shogunate for more than ten years. The shogunate was willing to surrender, and Yuanqi had no reason to fight!

Seeing Tadaruto Sakai, he said without saying a word, and Yasuyoshi Matsuhei said, "Wenqi may not attack Edo after capturing Kyoto, but if we reinforce Kyoto, Moenqi will definitely attack Edo! Edo and the Kanto Plain have a population of tens of millions, so we cannot afford this risk. Even if there is a glimmer of hope, we must try our best to fight!"

Tadaru Sakai agreed, "The key is that you can't win! Our battle with the Qing army is like hitting a stone with an egg."

If you can't win, you should clean your neck and let others slaughter it? Inaya Masami was very disdainful of the two, looked at Tokugawa Ishimashiro and said, "Master--."

Tokugawa Ishimatsu glanced at Tadaru Sakai and said slowly: "Monqi promised not to attack Edo..."

Seeing that Ishimao started, Tadaru Sakai did not hide it and slowly told him about reaching an agreement with Yi Zhizu. Inuye Masashi was silent for a while and said, "Is this a trick of Yuanqi's separation? Let's wait for Kyoto to be destroyed first, and then attack Edo.

By then, there will be no Daming to help us.”

"We may not have considered this." Tadaru Sakai said: "As I said before, even if the Gongwu combined and the whole country's strength to resist tenaciously, we will not be able to escape the result of being destroyed. Therefore, we can only hope that Yuanqi will keep his promise."

"What's the use of Yuanqi's promise? The Qing court army attacked Kyoto!" Inaya Masami sarcastically said: "If Yuanqi doesn't come to fight, it's hard to guarantee that they won't come to fight!"

"It's too late to say anything now." Sakai Tadaruto said coldly: "There is a boat!"

As a large number of refugees continued to pour into Kyoto Prefecture, in just over half a month, Kyoto Prefecture was overcrowded. Kyoto, Kinki and surrounding towns were crowded, and a large number of people were still pouring in every day.

In ordinary years of disaster, people still provide porridge, but in this situation, no one dares to provide porridge. The number of refugees is too large and there is not enough food to make a lot of trouble.

Besides, no one knows when the war will break out, and no one knows when it will end. At present, the grain in Kyoto has increased to two taels of gold and one stone, and there is still no market price. Even with gold and silver, there is no way to buy food. Some of the food stored at home hide the food and keep it for life-saving food, and no one wants to sell it.

In sharp contrast to the deserted and depressed food market, the market is where a yellow girl can be exchanged for just a bucket of rice, and many children don’t want anything, just wanting to give them stutters. Another lively place is the recruitment office of the surprise troops. Countless young and strong men are scrambling to take the exam. Although it is dangerous to be a soldier, they can at least have enough food.

Fortunately, there are a few, and most of the refugees are hungry. The bark, crops, grass roots, and everything they can eat is eaten by hungry refugees with green eyes. The whole Kyoto seems to have encountered a rare locust plague, and it looks like it is bare.

In order to prevent refugee riots, all towns hired a large number of patrol teams to patrol day and night. Even so, refugees attacked towns and ransacked wealthy merchants and households from time to time. The newly formed surprise troops began to suppress the riots without confronting the Qing army.

A man-made famine spread rapidly in Kyoto and surrounding towns and towns. People starved to death almost every moment, and dead bodies could be seen everywhere on the road, in the suburbs, and in the wilderness.

The situation in Kyoto is slightly better, but people are in panic. The news that Kyoto has been besieged on three sides has long been circulating. The princes, nobles, wealthy businessmen and great merchants are all sitting and standing like ants on a hot pan, and are in a state of fear. At present, the lottery draw is not even a chance to escape. Although it is not surrounded on the west side, there are now hungry people outside the city. Who dares to leave the city? If the Qing army fights, they will still be dead.

Royal Palace, Chang Yin Palace.

Meiji was completely in despair. After hearing the news that Ye Masami and his party were ambushed, he was completely desperate. Kyoto was surrounded on three sides, but the west was not surrounded. But who dared to reinforce Kyoto under such circumstances? I am afraid that the various vassals are currently all out to intercept the entry of refugees.

He now hoped that the Qing army could attack earlier and end such days of suffering in despair as soon as possible. However, he knew very well that this was a complete luxury, and the Qing army would never attack at this time.

Hirofang Qing army camp.

The troops were carrying out various trainings in full swing, showing no sign of attack. Senggelinqin wandered around the battalions every day, inspecting and supervising the training, but Yixin lost interest after a few days. In his opinion, these trainings were too boring and monotonous, and they were the same, and they were really meaningless.

Every day, he was stuck in the big tent and read the information to understand all aspects of Japan. After all, after the destruction of Japan, it was handed over to the imperial court to govern it. He needed to have a full understanding of Japan. As for the attack on Kyoto, he had gradually faded. At present, a large-scale famine broke out in Kyoto, which was not a good time to march.

On this day, he was flipping through information in the tent, and his personal guards came in to report: "Reported to the General, Xiao Mingliang, the commander-in-chief of Yuan Qi's attack on the Japanese, he arrived in Osaka and was coming towards Hirakata. He is expected to arrive in half an hour."

What did Xiao Mingliang, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese, do? Could it be that the war is about to start? Yixin was happy and hurriedly ordered: "Go and ask the monk to return to the tent."

When Senggelinqin was waiting, he rushed back, and Yixin immediately went out to greet the camp with him. Although he was the general ordered by the imperial court to attack the Japanese, he did not dare to make any statement in front of Xiao Mingliang, the commander-in-chief. After all, the weapons, ammunition, food, grass, and quilts of the camp, all materials need to rely on Yuan Qi, and the future expansion of the army also requires Yuan Qi's strong support.

Waiting for boredom, Yixin said casually: "Now is not a good time to attack Kyoto. What is Xiao Mingliang coming to Hirakata for?"

"It's mostly coming to inspect the training situation of the troops." Senggelinqin said without hesitation: "In my opinion, we should be prepared to attack Kyoto."

"Isn't it too early to attack Kyoto at this time?" Yi Xin said carefully: "The food in Kyoto should not be exhausted yet..."

Senggelinqin smiled and said, "The 100,000 troops in Japan are in the Japanese, and the daily consumption is extremely amazing. How can Yuanqi not count this?

After a pause, he continued: "If our army's weapons and equipment attack Kyoto, if it is destroyed, why should they run out of food and grass? The reason for creating this famine is nothing more than to be at peace and save trouble."

As the two of them were talking, they saw a cavalry team coming quickly. The tall and big horses of the same color were even more handsome under the short and long Ue horse. They were still more than a hundred steps away. Xiao Mingliang tied the reins and slowed down the horse. He grabbed the horse more than ten steps away and smiled, "Why are you so polite, two princes?" He said that, jumped off the horse and quickly met him.

Yi Xin also walked quickly to greet him and said with a smile: "Commander Xiao is here, how can we not meet you?"

"There must be good things when Commander-in-Chief Xiao arrives in person." Senggelinqin smiled heartily and said, "We are welcoming the soldiers on behalf of the entire army."
Chapter completed!