After explaining why "the war ends and we look at Beiyang", Zhu Yingzhen finally felt at ease, and Gao Pragmatic explained to him some related matters on how to support the Hojo clan. Zhu Yingzhen devoured some of the late-night snack prepared by Gao Mo, and then the Duke said goodbye and left.
Gao Pragmatic usually doesn't eat at night, but tonight he had a lot of things to do, so he reluctantly ate a few slices of braised beef, and asked Liu Xin why he didn't move his chopsticks.
Liu Xin looked like she would rather die than surrender, shaking her head: "Fat is a woman's biggest natural enemy."
Gao Pingshi laughed, put down his chopsticks and said, "You said you don't want to get married, and you're afraid of getting a little bit fat. Is that the case?"
"What does this have to do with whether or not to marry?" Liu Xin glared at Gao Pragmatic: "I can't tolerate being out of shape, can't I?"
"Yes, of course." Gao Pragmatic didn't intend to argue about this kind of thing. He changed the topic and asked, "Well, it seems that you haven't finished what you said before. Now that Duke Cheng Guo is gone, do you want to add something?"
Liu Xin glanced at him and said, "Are you talking about Japan's unification or something?"
Gao pragmatic shook his head slightly and said seriously: "I'm talking about the entire related incident."
"Oh." Liu Xin thought for a moment and did not answer. Instead, she asked: "You said before that after Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan, he would send troops to Korea in at most two or three years. Is this your judgment based on history, or do you think it is Is this inevitable?"
"Both." Gao Pragmatic answered quickly: "The reason why there is such a history is also inevitable. It is based on Toyotomi Hideyoshi's physical and psychological conditions, and after Japan's reunification, its domestic conflicts could not be internalized. A kind of necessity formed by dissolution.”
Liu Xin asked: "The so-called internal contradictions are the too many warrior classes you mentioned before?"
"More than that." Gao Pragmatic said calmly: "Too many samurai is actually a problem at the national level in Japan. But to a certain extent, too many samurai are a problem for Toyotomi Hideyoshi himself or his direct power group. It’s not as serious as imagined.”
"Oh? How do you say this?" Liu Xin was slightly surprised.
Gao pragmatically said: "How to put it... Well, you can roughly compare Toyotomi Hideyoshi's unification with Chiang's 'unification'. In fact, the biggest difference between Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Oda Nobunaga is that Nobunaga sees Anyone who is unhappy will be destroyed, and Hideyoshi almost destroyed only Hojo, and Shibata can only be regarded as part of Oda's original power.
In essence, Nobunaga preferred military unification, while Hideyoshi, his de facto successor, preferred political unification. However, there will be an inevitable problem with political unification, that is, Hideyoshi did not break the original feudal pattern. He launched almost two relatively large conquests: the Kyushu Conquest and the Kanto Conquest.
The result of the Kyushu conquest was that the Shimazu clan was punished and lost all its previous victory, and its own basic base did not suffer much loss. After Shimazu surrendered, Hideyoshi did not force the fight to the end. Instead, he accepted the submission and was content to be the leader of the feudal lords.
The Hojo clan was a bit more miserable, and they were basically wiped out. However, an important reason why Hojo was destroyed was that they also offended Tokugawa Ieyasu. It happened that Toyotomi Hideyoshi was worried about Ieyasu whose territory was too close to him, so he took the opportunity of Hojo's destruction to seal Ieyasu. This approach has a bit of the shadow of "governing all nations from China". "
Liu Xin frowned and said, "Does this have anything to do with him sending troops to North Korea?"
"It does matter. It matters a lot." Gao Pragmatic smiled and said, "If you think about it, since Toyotomi Hideyoshi's unification mainly relied on political means under the deterrence of force, then those under his command who cooperated with his deterrence of force Do our generals need to be rewarded for their merits?
But the problem is that since it is not unified by force, it is naturally impossible to deprive the daimyo territories that surrendered to him and distribute them to his own people. So how can we start to talk about repaying the merits? Since he has acquiesced to the enfeoffment system, he must still enfeoff to reward his merits. But he has no land, how can he enfeoff?
What's more, judging from his "Taiko Inspection" situation, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's own strength is not actually very strong. At least compared to the later Tokugawa Shogunate, the strength of the Toyotomi family itself is weak. . "
"This is the first time I've heard of this. Can you give me more details?"
Gao pragmatically said: "There is no need to go into too much detail. Let me give a rough outline. The Japanese stone height during Toyotomi Hideyoshi's era was about 19 million, and it was said to be 22 million during Tokugawa Ieyasu's era. The gap is limited.
But when it comes to the number of stone highs of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, Toyotomi Hideyoshi has 2.2 million stone, while Tokugawa Ieyasu after transferring to Kanto has 2.5 million stone. The number of stone heights of these two people is more than 2 million, which is not much different. But in fact, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's control over Japan in his era was actually not as good as Tokugawa Ieyasu's during the Edo shogunate era.
First of all, although Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu both had about the same number of stone highs, and compared to their eras, they accounted for similar proportions of Japan's total stone highs, but in fact the difference between the two was not small.
In addition to the 650,000 koku in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's territory in Osaka, there are also more than 1 million koku in Hidden Land, which is the part of the daimyo territory that Toyotomi Hideyoshi carved out when he enfeoffed the daimyo. This is scattered throughout Japan.
Tokugawa Ieyasu was different. His territory was concentrated in Kanto. Not only that, he also has the Yusan family and the Yusanqing family. In terms of stone and high numbers, he has many more families than the Toyotomi family.
Secondly, as I just said, what is the nature of Toyotomi's regime? On the surface, it seems to be unified, but in fact it is just a loose alliance of daimyo. Most of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's power came from his prestige. Once he himself died, it was only a matter of time before the collapse of Toyotomi's regime.
Tokugawa Ieyasu was different. His power came from the prestige, strength, family name of the Tokugawa family and his status as co-head of the martial arts family. Theoretically speaking, even if Tokugawa Ieyasu died early, it would not be broken and collapsed as quickly as the Toyotomi family.
Another very critical point is that there is a lack of generational names in the Toyotomi regime. This can be said to be Toyotomi Hideyoshi's own suicide. He not only suppressed the genealogical daimyo, but also killed his own relatives. For example, we all know the ending of Toyotomi Hideji. This approach seriously weakened the support of the entire regime.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi's attempt to maintain the balance and stability of the regime by wooing local forces, namely the Five Elders, was actually a fool's errand. Not to mention that Tokugawa Ieyasu was powerful enough to threaten the Toyotomi family at that time, can those local forces really be loyal to the Toyotomi family?
There is a saying we have all heard: "The emperor would rather have the seed?" Those with strong soldiers and horses will do it! 'For their own interests, sooner or later they will betray the Toyotomi family, especially when the core strength of the Toyotomi family is not enough to dominate the world.
Tokugawa Ieyasu was different. He had a complete hierarchical system of vassals, descendants, and vassals. The pro-clan occupies a prosperous land and monitors the gaibei. Most of the gaibei daimyo are transferred to remote places and are subject to various criticisms and exploitations - such as the Shimazu family. Therefore, the strength of the foreign daimyo could not be compared with that of the Tokugawa shogunate, and of course they did not dare to challenge the shogunate.
In the end, Toyotomi Hideyoshi suppressed the daimyo by inspecting the territory and transferring seals from the Taikaku. This caused him and his direct lineage to offend many people. However, the local powerful factions are the guarantee for the stability of Toyotomi's regime, so this approach is actually a self-improvement. Seeking death was to force these local daimyo to abandon the Toyotomi family at a critical moment.
Tokugawa Ieyasu was different. He excluded the outside daimyo from the center of power. Many of these outside daimyo had left their original territories and lacked control over the new territories. Coupled with the oppression and suppression of the generational daimyo, it was basically impossible for them to do so. Can't afford to make waves.
Although doing so will also lead to the hatred of the gaibei daimyo towards him, and there is no essential difference between it and Toyotomi Hideyoshi's approach, but these are all based on the hierarchical system of kin, generation, and gaibei. The Tokugawa family Strong prestige and strength serve as the foundation, rather than relying solely on personal prestige and political means like Toyotomi Hideyoshi. "
Liu Xin understood a little now and nodded: "In general, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's real core strength is seriously insufficient, and even adding his so-called direct lineage can only guarantee that he can barely make the outside world famous. Submitting to him in name is not enough to form an overwhelming advantage, is that what you mean?"
"Yes, this is why once I establish garrison armies in various countries in southern Xinjiang, I will gradually reduce their original armies until they are finally abolished. The so-called garrison army consumes a lot of money and has advanced ordnance, so there is no need to retain so many other armies. In fact, it’s just a matter of finding a reason to disarm.”
Liu Xin blinked: "The Cen and Huang families..."
Gao pragmatic shrugged his shoulders and said: "I can only say that it is caused by objective facts, and we cannot act too hastily at the moment. But having said that, the Cen and Huang families, and even all the Guangxi chieftains who moved to southern Xinjiang, even if they were added together, they would not be able to defeat them. sky."
Liu Xin suddenly frowned and said, "Did you marry Huang Zhiting for some reason?"
Gao pragmatic raised his eyebrows slightly when he heard this: "I guess you want to ask, did I deliberately use this marriage method to divide the Huang family, and then use it to divide the Guangxi chieftains headed by the Cen and Huang families, and finally made the Guangxi chieftains It’s impossible for all the forces to unite to threaten me?”
"Uh..." Liu Xin laughed dryly: "Well, at least in hindsight, it does have such an effect."
Gao pragmatic shook his head and said: "I didn't think so at the time." After a pause, he added: "Actually, Zhiting was more active in this matter than me."
"Uh-huh." Liu Xin shrugged, pursed her lips, and said: "I don't know whether I should say she is smart, or whether I should say that the concept of marriage in this era has huge inertia. As you said, Guangxi Tusi is dividing In this matter, she seems to be much more active than you."
Gao pragmatic smiled and stopped mentioning this issue, but changed the topic and continued to talk about Japan, saying: "Toyotomi Hideyoshi's core strength is not strong enough, and the so-called direct generals have great achievements but cannot be awarded, so he only Can make plans for external expansion.
In addition, he is not young anymore. I did the math...well, he is fifty-one years old this year (actual age), which is quite old for Japan. According to original history, it was four years later when he launched the war against North Korea, when he was fifty-five years old.
Considering that this guy's physical condition has always been relatively average, maybe the reason why he was so eager to start a war was because he was worried that he wouldn't be able to resolve the matter in front of him... Wait, that's not right. "
Liu Xin was stunned: "What's wrong?"
Gao Pragmatic frowned and said hesitantly: "If I remember correctly, Hideyoshi's successor Toyotomi Hideyori was born in 1593, the year after the war broke out."
Liu Xin still didn't understand what Gao Pragmatic meant, and asked inexplicably: "Is there any problem with this?"
"No, no." Gao Pingshi suddenly stood up, paced back and forth for a while, and then said in a serious tone: "I've gone over the matter of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's successor. Please listen and see if I've made any mistakes. .”
Liu Xin actually didn't know much about the current situation in Japan, let alone what problems Toyotomi Hideyoshi's heirs had, but Gao Pragmatic didn't give her a chance to tell, so she had to listen.
Gao Pragmatic pondered: "When Toyotomi Hideyoshi was in middle age, his eldest son Ishimasumaru Hidekatsu was born in his side room Nanden. This son died at the age of six, so Hideyoshi missed this first child very much. This This may be the reason why he named his subsequent adopted sons "Xiusheng".
But Toyotomi Hideyoshi's second son, Toyotomi Tsurumatsu, was born very late, in 1589 - that is, he would not be born until next year. Hideyoshi had high hopes for this son and attached great importance to him. However, God was not kind to him and the son died in 1591. "
"Ah? It seems that Toyotomi Hideyoshi is unlucky enough to have an heir at least." Liu Xin shook her head after hearing this.
Gao pragmatic ignored this sigh and continued: "But two years later, in 1593, Hideyoshi's third son Hideyori was born. This time there was no accident and he lived until adulthood - by that time Hideyoshi had already died."
Liu Xin asked: "So... what did you mean when you said 'wrong' just now?"
"It means that when Hideyoshi launched the war of aggression against Korea, he actually had no heirs of his own." Gao Pragmatic still frowned: "Before Toyotomi Kasumatsu was born and after his early death, that is, during the period when Hideyoshi had no heirs, He adopted Toyotomi Hidesuji, the son of his biological sister Tomoko (Toyotomi Hidden, also known as Zuiryuin), as his adopted son and trained him as his heir. Especially after Hematsu died at an early age, Hidetsu Masaji Hakatsune's adopted son Hideyoshi."
Liu Xin thought about it and said: "Are you trying to say that Toyotomi Hideyoshi dared to launch such a big foreign war, and there might be a reason why he had no heirs - I mean, his mentality at the time might have been one of 'I don't have it anyway. My own son, whether he wins or loses, that’s all.’?”
"It's possible, but I'm afraid it's just a secondary factor." Gao Pragmatic analyzed: "After all, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had already had this plan. The influence of not having a biological son should only increase his desperate determination, but it cannot be said to be the main factor. reason."
"Then he had his biological son Hideyori the year after he launched the war..." Liu Xin frowned and said, "How did he handle this matter?"
"Hey, I thought you knew. Just now I said, 'We all know the ending of Toyotomi Hideji'. So you don't know?"
Liu Xin rolled her eyes at him: "You still don't know my historical level?"
Gao Pingshi laughed dumbly, shook his head, and said: "Then let me tell you briefly: Toyotomi Hideji must be twenty years old this year, and his biological father is Miyoshi Yoshifu. Hideji's original name was Miyoshi Nobuyoshi, and he later changed his name to Hideji.
Since Hideyoshi became more powerful after Nobunaga's death, he also promoted a large number of his relatives at first. Therefore, Hideji participated in the war between Kitaise and Aigake in 1583. In 1584, he led troops to participate in the Battle of Komaki Nagakute. Not only was he defeated miserably in the battle with Tokugawa Ieyasu, but General Tsuneki Ikeda died on the battlefield, which made Hideyoshi extremely angry.
However, in 1585, because of his meritorious service in the conquest of the four countries, Hideji was granted a territory of 430,000 koku by Omi, which shows that Hideyoshi still had high hopes for him. According to the original history, next year or the year after that, due to his meritorious service in the conquest of Odawara, he was also granted the Owari territory, with a total of more than one million koku, and became the lord of Qingzhou City. He was very powerful. "
Liu Xin said in surprise: "Toyotomi Hematsu was born in 1589, and around 1590, Hidetsu was granted the title again? No, what did Toyotomi Hideyoshi think? He wanted to take back Hideji's inheritance rights, so he gave him the title." Does he have some fiefdom as compensation? Or does he hope that Xiuji can assist his biological son in the future? "
"No, you made a mistake about the time difference." Gao Pragmatic explained: "Hidetsu was not the legitimate heir of Hideyoshi when Toyotomi Hematsu was born. In fact, it was after Hematsu died in infancy that Hidetsu was designated as Hideyoshi's heir, because At that time, Hideyoshi thought it would be difficult for him to have another son."
"Oh, okay then, what about after Hideyori is born?"
"Ever since Hideyori was born, Hideyoshi's feelings for Hideji began to change. Here I want to say one more thing: Hideyoshi had already given up the position of 'Kanpaku' to Hideji in 1591, and he called himself 'Taiko'. After Hideyoshi's attitude changed, Hideji also felt that something was wrong. From then on, he gave up on himself and committed many inhumane behaviors. As a result, he was nicknamed "Seshokan Haku".
By 1595, Hideyori was about two or three years old and in much better health than his brother Shokaku. Therefore, Hideyoshi exiled Hidetsu to Mount Koya on suspicion of treason and ordered him to commit seppuku. "
"Ah?" Liu Xin's eyes widened: "Just kill him like that?"
Gao pragmatic shrugged: "Yes, just kill him." Then he paused and added: "And shortly after Hidetsu committed suicide, Hideyoshi gathered thirty-eight of his wives, concubines, and children together in Kyoto. Sanjo Kawara was executed.
However, according to Japanese folklore, it is believed that some of Hidetsu's children survived, and one of their daughters later became Sanada Yukimura's concubine, but there seems to be no detailed evidence to prove these claims. "
Liu Xin didn't care about Xiuci's descendants, and just wondered: "Such an older adopted son not only has a lot of military exploits, but also has a fief of millions of stones, and he also wears a 'Guan Bai' on his head. 'The big hat, but Toyotomi Hideyoshi just killed him without saying a word? Isn't there any problem in Japan?"
"Perhaps Toyotomi Hideyoshi's prestige is high enough, or perhaps Tokugawa Ieyasu is too calm. Anyway, in my impression, Japan was relatively peaceful at that time." Gao Pragmatic frowned and said: "Of course, it may also be that After Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent troops to Korea, the cakes he painted for the big names in the country were so attractive that everyone did not want to think about civil strife for the time being while the war in Korea was still anxious."
"Oh, I understand. This is the so-called benefit of transferring conflicts to foreign wars." Liu Xin nodded, and then asked: "But I remember you once said that after the Korean War was halfway through, the Japanese army was at a disadvantage. , and it was difficult for the Ming army to eliminate the last batch of coastal Japanese troops due to supply difficulties, so the two sides held peace talks.
But later Japan's conditions were too harsh, so the peace talks failed, and the two sides started the second phase of the war... What I find strange is that if Hideyoshi dared to attack North Korea in the first place because he had no biological son, there would be no good in fighting a war at all costs. Worry.
However, it was already 1597 when the second war started. At that time, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was already sixty years old, and it was only one year before his death. It stands to reason that his body should have collapsed - or was about to collapse, right? So why did he insist on launching a second war? "
"This is what I'm confused about." Gao Pingshi frowned and said: "If we rule out the possibility that Toyotomi Hideyoshi has Alzheimer's disease at this time, I always feel that his second phase of the war seems to be more of a kind of riding a tiger."
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