Chapter 1113 Helplessness and impulse!
Seeing Ishihara Nobuyuki's serious statement, Muto Masaaki's expression also eased a little. Seeing this, Ishihara Nobuyuki continued:

“Muto-kun, the shogunate is now in a precarious situation. The Hojo family and the Watanabe family are ready to make a move under the instigation of the Zhou people. At this time, you and I, as important officials of the shogunate, should help each other and work together to help the shogunate overcome this difficulty…”

Although Ishihara Nobuyuki's expression was very sincere and seemed quite affectionate when he said this, someone who didn't know him might think that Ishihara Nobuyuki and Muto Masaaki were friends for many years when seeing his expression!

When Muto Mazaaki heard what Ishihara Nobuyuki said, he frowned slightly and fell into deep thought. Looking at the silent Muto Mazaaki, Ishihara Nobuyuki did not rush to pick up the teacup and sipped it slowly and calmly, looking like he had everything planned out.

At the same time, Muto Masaaki was constantly weighing the pros and cons in his mind. Ishihara Nobuyuki's words just now seemed very great and glorious, but the most important content of these words was the four words "help each other"!
It was also in this room before that Ishihara Nobuyuki told Muto Masaaki that he believed the situation had reached a point where it could no longer be resolved through political negotiations, and that the conflict between the shogunate and local daimyo headed by the Hojo Watanabe family could only be resolved through war!

Therefore, Ishihara Nobuyuki wanted to take the initiative to provoke a war while the Hojo and Watanabe families were not fully prepared for war, and find an excuse to declare war on the Hojo and Watanabe families...
Ishihara Nobuyuki believed that although the Hojo and Watanabe families had received some support from the Fengwu Army, the shogunate still had the overall advantage in strength. Therefore, the sooner the matter was resolved, the better it would be for the shogunate!
In order to get his idea of ​​proactively declaring war passed in the shogunate, Ishihara Nobuyuki hoped to get the support of Muto Masaaki, one of the five big bosses!

But Muto Masaaki, because the Muto family is a great noble family, is the beneficiary of the current political structure of Tojima, and the family has many connections with the Hojo family and the Watanabe family!

Therefore, Mutō Masaaki did not want the current power structure in Higashijima to be broken. He was still conservative and hoped to resolve the differences between the shogunate and local daimyo through politics. Therefore, Mutō Masaaki rejected Ishihara Nobuyuki's request!
However, what Muto Masaaki did not expect was that the boomerang flew back so quickly. It was obvious that Ishihara Nobuyuki was using this matter to make a political exchange with him!
Although the voices supporting him are dominant within the shogunate at the moment, this also makes Muto Masaaki see a hint of potential crisis. After all, his past cannot withstand investigation!

Now, the Great Zhou Coordination Office has not exerted much effort, but there are already constant disturbances. If the Coordination Office continues to exert its efforts, things will slide further into the uncontrollable unknown!

And if I reject Ishihara Nobuyuki now, will Ishihara Nobuyuki make a fuss about this matter?

Although the above mentioned problems are a bit tricky, Muto Mazaaki is still confident that he can handle them. After all, he is no pushover after so many years of ups and downs in the officialdom...

But what really worried Muto Masaaki was that although he rejected Ishihara Nobuyuki's idea last time, Ishihara Nobuyuki's story also made him realize that the situation was more dangerous than he thought!

Therefore, Muto Masaaki also wrote letters to Hojo River and Watanabe Taketake, trying to use his personal connections to mediate the tense relationship between the shogunate and local daimyo!
Originally, Muto Yoshiaki was optimistic about this mediation, but as he received replies from Hojo Gawa and Watanabe Taketake, the flame of optimism in his heart gradually died out!

Although Hojo Kawa and Watanabe Taketake did not explicitly refuse in their reply letters, Muto Masaaki had known these two old guys for decades and were very familiar with each other, so he could still sense the ambition from their ambiguous attitudes!
As his mediation failed, although he still did not want to break the existing power structure, Mutō Masaaki had to begin to examine Ishihara Nobuyuki's suggestion to go to war!

After thinking for a whole cup of tea, Muto Mazakō raised his head and thought about Ishihara Nobuyuki and asked in a deep voice:
"Can the Ishihara-kun shogunate make some concessions?"

Hearing what Muto Masaaki said, Ishihara Nobuyuki suddenly became angry. He slammed the table and said loudly:

"Take that back, Muto-kun! Words like that shouldn't come out of your mouth!"

“The Hojo family and the Watanabe family are a group of ambitious people. The shogunate has been tolerant of them. Making concessions will not bring peace. It will only make the Hojo family and the Watanabe family think that the shogunate is weak and can be bullied. Concessions will only foster their ambitions…”

"What the shogunate should do is not to give in, but to punish them with war, and make the Hojo and Watanabe families repent for everything they have done!"

"We will use the blood of the Hojo family and the Watanabe family to let other daimyo know that the shogunate is the absolute ruler of East Island, and they must obey the shogunate's orders!"

After saying these words like a machine gun, Ishihara Nobuyuki finally calmed down a little and looked at Muto Masaaki who was silent. He had to continue to persuade him patiently:

"Mr. Muto, I understand your feelings, but the problem now is not just whether the shogunate is willing to go to war, but whether the Ishihara and Watanabe families are willing to stop!"

"During this period, the sea and land transportation from Liaoyang in the Great Zhou to the Five States was very busy. According to conservative estimates, the Fengwu Army transported at least 3,000 muskets of various types, as well as hundreds of Great Zhou tiger squat cannons, and more than 100,000 shi of grain to the Hojo and Watanabe families!"

"And the news I got is that this is only the first batch of aid. Ye Mingsheng personally made a promise to the Hojo family and the Watanabe family that as long as the war breaks out, he will be the most solid backing for the Hojo and Watanabe families and will continue to deliver supplies to them!"

“Ye Mingsheng’s promise greatly fostered the ambitions of the Hojo and Watanabe families. This is also the reason why they dared to challenge the shogunate…”

As he spoke, Ishihara Nobuyuki's tone seemed very helpless. As an island country, Dongdao was short of resources and its overall national strength was originally unable to compete with Da Zhou. And now under Ye Mingsheng's instigation, the internal disunity made the situation even more dangerous!
After hearing this, Muto Masaaki also realized the severity of the situation. After hesitating for a moment, he said again:
"Military aid is Ye Mingsheng's usual method. He used military aid to interfere in the war among the princes of the Great Zhou during the previous civil war. But I heard that although he gave a lot of firearms to the Hojo family and the Watanabe family, they were not the latest firearms equipped by the Fengwu Army, and they were all used second-hand firearms!"

Upon hearing this, Ishihara Nobuo sighed and said:

"Mr. Muto, what you said is true. The firearms given to the Hojo family and the Watanabe family were all the Weiyuan and Polu guns that were eliminated by the Fengwu Army. There were no Fengwu guns that the Fengwu Army is currently equipped with. The artillery was also some small-caliber tiger squat cannons!" "But the problem is that there are so many of these fire guns. Even if only half of them can be used normally, there are still 1,500 of them. Moreover, the Fengwu Army's fire guns are much stronger than our iron cannons in terms of range, accuracy, and power!"

"With Ye Mingsheng's military aid, the strength of the Hojo family and the Watanabe family has also increased a lot. If we don't stop it now, things will become more troublesome. It will take a year at most, or half a year at most. Their ambitions will also be unstoppable!"

Listening to Ishihara Nobu's story, Muto Masaaki, who had recognized the reality, sighed, and then said to Ishihara Nobu in a deep voice with some melancholy:
"I agree with your idea, Ishihara-kun. I hope your idea is correct..."

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Yijing, Ye Mansion

In the morning, Jingren, who had finished washing up, came to An Miaoyi and bowed to her.
"Jingren pays respects to mother!"

An Miaoyi nodded slightly and asked:

"I heard that Mr. Gu is teaching you the Book of Filial Piety during this period?"

Jingren nodded without hesitation and said:

"Mr. Gu has been teaching me about filial piety for seven days. I have memorized a lot of the content, and Mr. Gu praised me for my good memorization!"

After saying that, Jingren looked at An Miaoyi expectantly, as if he was waiting for his mother's praise. However, Jingren was a little disappointed that An Miaoyi did not praise him as he expected, but asked with interest:
"Jingren recite a passage for me!"

Hearing his mother asking him to recite a text, Jingren became a little nervous. After all, An Miaoyi had very high requirements. It was not enough to just recite the text haltingly. You had to recite the text very fluently and know what it meant. Only then could you pass An Miaoyi's test!
There had been many times before when Jingren had stuttered and barely memorized the text, and had been severely criticized and reprimanded by An Miaoyi. So when he heard that his mother was going to test him, Jingren became a little nervous!

Jingren took a deep breath and recalled the contents of the "Book of Filial Piety" and began to preach:
“Zhongni was at home, and Zengzi was serving him. Confucius said: The ancient kings had the highest virtues and the key principles. In an instant, the world was under control, and the people were in harmony, without any complaints from the upper and lower classes. Do you know this...?”

Although Jingren was very nervous and his hands began to sweat under his mother's gaze at the beginning, it must be said that under Gu Sansi's guidance, Jingren learned the "Book of Filial Piety" very well. Although there were some stumbling blocks in the middle, overall he recited it very well.

Seeing that Jingren had memorized the text quite well, An Miaoyi did not want him to recite the text anymore. Instead, she touched Jingren's head and said earnestly:
"Son! You must study hard and make me proud! You are my only hope now!"

"You have to surpass Jingxuan in your studies and tell your father that you are his most talented son!"

Hearing his mother talking about this again, Jingren nodded silently, but he felt a little helpless in his heart. At first, the words his mother said could make him work hard, but after hearing them too much, he felt a little rebellious in his heart!

Although his mother always told him that he was as talented as anyone else and that he would surpass Jingxuan as long as he studied hard, to be honest, there was a voice in Jingren's heart that told him that his brother Jingxuan's talent for studying was better than his and that no matter how hard he tried, he could not surpass him...
Jingren was a little frustrated about this idea, but he was not the kind of person who liked to be competitive. He was even a little lazy in character. Although he was a little envious of his brother Jingxuan's talent in learning, he was able to accept his own shortcomings in his heart.

But his mother An Miaoyi has been lecturing him whenever she is free, which has made Jingren feel an urge recently. He wants to tell his mother that he is not as good as his younger brother Jingxuan in studying, and ask his mother not to have such thoughts anymore. Such thoughts make him feel very tired!

Although he had such an impulse in his heart, Jingren just thought about it in his mind. He knew very well what would happen if he really did it!
Although Jingren feels very tired due to his mother's expectations, he knows that his mother An Miaoyi is doing this for his own good, so he doesn't want to disappoint her!
At this time, An Miaoyi didn't know that her son, who was so young, already had such deep thoughts in his mind. After expressing a wave of thoughts, she saw that the time was almost up, so she instructed Jingren:
"Hurry up and have breakfast! Mr. Gu, you will have an extra class today. Mr. Gu will be here in an incense stick of time. After you finish your meal, review it carefully. There is something in the third paragraph that you are still not familiar with..."

After saying this, An Miaoyi asked the servants to take Jingren to dinner, while she started her work for the day, compared to the leisurely life of other ladies in the Ye Mansion.

As the eldest lady, An Miaoyi is quite busy. After all, she is a woman who likes to control power!

Although Ye Mingsheng didn't like her interfering in court affairs before, she still interfered in it openly or secretly. But after Ye Mingsheng dealt with Huo San without making a fuss, An Miaoyi was once again shocked by the ruthlessness and swiftness of her partner, which made her dare not interfere in court affairs anymore!
Since she cannot interfere in the affairs of the court, An Miaoyi, as the eldest lady, can only focus her main energy on the affairs of the Ye Mansion to satisfy her inner thoughts about power!
An Miaoyi carefully looked through the expenses of the Ye Mansion in the previous month. When she was halfway through the account book, she discovered something. She frowned and ordered someone to call Nanny Xia from the mansion over.

When Nanny Xia came to An Miaoyi, An Miaoyi didn't waste time talking to her and asked directly:

"Why did Murong Qingwu's budget exceed by so much last month? Didn't I say that no courtyard could exceed budget without my order?"

(End of this chapter)