Chapter 245: A Game of Chess in the Far East (3)

Style: Historical Author: Yun WufengWords: 5156Update Time: 24/01/18 11:16:21
The reason why Liu Xin was surprised was mainly because Gao Pragmatic had never decided on his position after the Battle of Guanyuan before. His only intention all along was to ensure that the Battle of Guanyuan between the East and West armies must be fought. The specific stance between him and Jinghua will depend on the situation after the Battle of Sekigahara.

Although Gao Jingshi did not elaborate on this "re-decision" at the time, Liu Xin's understanding of Gao Jingshi has obviously deepened a lot after being his confidential secretary for such a period of time. She had thought about this issue from a highly pragmatic standpoint and came up with several conjectures.

The so-called "depending on the situation" means that since it depends on the outcome of a war, there are only three situations: win in the east and lose in the west, win in the west and lose in the east, and stop with a draw.

Of course, if we insist on being more detailed, we can also divide it into small victory, big victory, tragic victory, complete victory, etc. There can even be different situations for ending a draw, such as when both sides end the battle exhausted from a fierce battle and run out of food and grass. They have to withdraw their troops and so on. If you count it like this, there are many possible situations.

Liu Xin originally had almost no memory of the history of the Battle of Guanyuan. Her understanding of the battle actually came from what Gao Pragmatic said during this period. Fortunately, Gao Pragmatic was not only a history buff, but also a game fan. He was quite familiar with this period of history - both political history and military history, so he explained it in detail.

Judging from the situation he described, Liu Xin felt that he had a reasonable point of view, that is, Tokugawa Ieyasu's victory in the Battle of Sekigahara was not "natural". There were actually many variables in that battle.

Many people say that Kobayakawa Hideaki's defection on the battlefield was the biggest winner in the Battle of Sekigahara. This may be true, but in fact, the Battle of Sekigahara was not an isolated battle. That is a narrow sense. In fact, the Battle of Sekigahara in a broad sense should be a series of wars intertwined with a series of battles, conspiracies and counter-conspiracy plans.

In this series of wars, many things were actually accidental, and some of them were even outrageous. If it were to happen "again," I'm afraid no one can guarantee that it would develop and end exactly like in the original history.

For example, if the direct trigger of this war, Naoe Kanetsugu's "Naoe Shu", had not refuted Tokugawa Ieyasu's accusations against Uesugi Kagekatsu point by point as in the original history, and even Piri Yoaki mocked Ieyasu, would Ieyasu have Is there any reason to call for a crusade against Uesugi Kagekatsu, who is also one of the five elders?

Without this call, how could those so-called "dogmatic daimyo" who were actually retainers of Toyotomi Hideyoshi go to Kanto in large numbers?

Moreover, this group of people did not necessarily abandon Toyotomi and become loyal to Tokugawa. Some of them even did not think highly of Ieyasu at all. The main reason why they were willing to obey Ieyasu's orders is simply ridiculous:

What? Opposite is Ishida Mitsunari? Baga, then I’ll hang out with the inner government first.

This inner palace was called the inner palace because Ieyasu's official position in the Japanese imperial court at that time was that of an internal minister. It was called the inner palace according to the custom of the Tang Dynasty in China. By the way, most of the Japanese civil and military official positions were copied from the Tang Dynasty, with some changes in names. However, even the internal common names of the Japanese public ministers can also be directly used to refer to those positions with Tang names. There is no problem.

Moreover, this "Tang name" is not just a custom, it can even be called an elegant name prescribed by law. "Tang names" themselves are some official names and department names directly corresponding to the Tang Dynasty under the Japanese legal system.

In the early eighth century AD, the "Dabao Law Order" and "Yanglao Law Order" were promulgated to organize the post system of two officials and eight provinces and below, and formulate the job titles of hundreds of officials. Tang-style job titles were used as an elegant name for deployment names.

At that time, Fujiwara Nakamaro (Emi Otsuki), who was immersed in Tang style culture, took power. In the second year of Tianping Baozi (758), Japan forcibly changed all official positions to Tang names - such as the newly established Ziwei by Nakamaro himself. Zhongtai is equivalent to the palace position of the Empress Dowager, and is called Ziweiling.

Although Zhongmaru returned to his old name after he lost power in the eighth year of Tianping Baozi, it was still used as an alias and nickname for official positions. From the second half of the Nara period to the Heian period, due to the emergence of various foreign officials, Tang names were used again.

Civil servants such as the left minister and the right minister correspond to the left and right servants of the Tang Dynasty, Da Nayan corresponds to the servants under the door, Zhong Nayan corresponds to the servants under the door or the Huangmen servant, Shibuqing corresponds to the official minister, Tanzheng corresponds to the censor, etc. There are countless military commanders, such as the left and right guards, who correspond to the left and right Jinwu guards of the Tang Dynasty.

For example, Japan's Saubei Governor, whose nickname is Takei Daishogun, is an official position held by the famous Sixth Heavenly Demon King Oda Nobunaga, the former head of the Oda family and the former third leader of the Shiba family for generations.

The Shiba family originally had a very special status. At the end of the Kamakura shogunate, they were on the same level as the Ashikaga shogunate. Later, they were reduced to ministerial status and served as the deacon of the shogunate. This position was also the predecessor of the "Guan Ling" and has always been the pen of the third military leader.

Except for the head of the Shiba family, no one else held the position of Sabei Governor during the Muromachi period. Therefore, in Japan at this time, when it comes to the Wu Wei family and Wu Wei Gong, it definitely refers to the Shiba family and the head of the Shiba family. There is no semicolon in the world.

For a member of the Sibo family, the Miao name is Sibo. But if a member of the Sibo family whose common name is A and whose partial name is B is standing in front of you and you call him "Martial Guard A and B", he will definitely know that you are calling he.

Not only these people, but even the shoguns are no exception. In addition to the special position of general who conquered barbarians, which was originally a temporary position, they also had positions within the legal system.

Throughout the Muromachi shogunate period, only the Ashikaga shoguns, who were the pillars of the samurai family, could obtain the post of left and right konoe generals, and these two positions were equivalent to the left and right habayashi generals of the Tang Dynasty.

This is evident from the wide spread and deep imprint of the Tang name in Japan.

Closer to home, Liu Xin had imagined at the time that if there had not been the "Naoe Style", if Tokugawa had not called for a crusade against Uesugi to gather momentum, and if Ishida Mitsunari had not immediately jumped out to organize a crusade against Ieyasu and intercepted another group of leaders who had not yet gone east. Daimyo, if the large number of dogmatic daimyo who have gone to the east have not already come under Ieyasu, if...

In short, there are countless possibilities at each stage that may cause the "configuration" of the Eastern and Western armies to be different from the original history. For example, the Shimazu family originally planned to mix with Ieyasu, but what they didn't expect was that after they ran to Gifu, Toku Torii Motoada, the old minister of Sichuan, said that he had not received Ieyasu's notice, so the Shimadzu family was not allowed to enter the city. The Shimadzu family was so angry that they simply joined the Western Army.

All these and more, in short, the final formation of the Eastern and Western armies was actually caused by fate. Many of the parties involved did not expect that one day they would follow Ieyasu's command to fight, or fight under the name of Ishida Mitsunari. .

Liu Xin speculated that Gao Pragmatic might have been more inclined to side with the Western Army, because the actual leader of the Western Army was Ishida Mitsunari.

Ishida Mitsunari, this guy is a civil servant who is not very good at uniting powerful daimyo. Gao Pragmatic should be very sure that he can join forcefully after the Battle of Sekigahara and then replace Ishida Mitsunari's leadership position.

With the addition of Jinghua, even if Sekigahara loses, the Western Army is fully capable of restoring its strength and morale, turning back to fight for revenge, and winning the final victory of the war.

Of course, the generals of the Western Army also understand the principle of "it is easy to add icing on the cake, but it is difficult to provide charcoal when the time is right". It is obvious what the significance of Gao Pragmatic's joining is. Coupled with the strong strength of Jinghua itself, what will the Warring States daimyo who are accustomed to obey the strong choose? There's no need to ask.

In this way, Gao Pragmatic can indeed obtain its unique status in Japan through this method, but it is difficult to say how unique this status can be.

The Japanese are deeply influenced by the Tang style, and the Tang style is ultimately Chineseization. As the Chineseness deepens, they are also very particular about "correcting the name" in everything, and the special status of Kyoka is not an independent business like the Sakai Tei merchants before the unification of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Ting, what he wants is to control Japan...how can he get this name right?

What's more, even if he helps the Eastern Army, it is not unreasonable. The key lies in Tokugawa Ieyasu.

The greatness of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Gao Pragmatic had already analyzed it for her last time. Not only did his military skills have few rivals at the time, but his political skills were even outclassed by all the outsiders after Hideyoshi's death.

However, Liu Xin believes that Gao Pragmatic’s hesitation at the time was mainly due to two major characteristics of Ieyasu’s personality:

The first major characteristic is that he is a person with a very sharp vision, and he will never be ambiguous about what he does after making a decision. He made almost no mistakes in judging the overall situation, and determined that the Oritoku Alliance would always be Oda Nobunaga's powerful help. Nobunaga almost lost his life when he started the war with Asai and Asakura, and Ieyasu never left him.

Until Nobunaga's death, in order to maintain his alliance with the "Oda family" instead of the "Hashiba family", he fought the Komaki Nagakute War with Hideyoshi, a weak enemy with a strong opponent, which made Hideyoshi's plan to pacify by force go bankrupt and he was forced to take Diplomacy is the way to go.

This clever and confident vision means that when Kyoka appears in Japan after the Battle of Sekigahara with overwhelming force, he will definitely be able to accurately judge who is strong and who is weak. As long as he feels that the opponent, like Oda Nobunaga, is someone he can't beat, he should easily choose to join rather than fight.

The second most distinctive feature is Ieyasu's nickname that Gao Pragmatic mentioned to her: "Turtle". Although "tortoise" largely means that he has lived a long time and is an old turtle, it also has other meanings, such as "a turtle with a shrunken head".

"Tortoise" is not a good word, but it fully embodies Ieyasu's "realistic spirit", which means that he is very good at assessing the situation and usually does not mess around when he is not sure. As Gao Pingshi once mentioned to her: "...so only Nobunaga can fight the 'Ozazama', and Ieyasu can only dare to make a decisive move for independence when the Imagawa family collapses."

This means that when Kyouka strongly "helps", once Ieyasu measures the difference in strength between the two parties, he is likely to choose to continue to lie down - although being the second child may not be happy, it is much happier than losing his head.

Therefore, supporting the Tokugawa family to open a new shogunate was once one of the most pragmatic choices.

But having said that, Gao Pragmatic certainly still believes that it is much more difficult to deal with Tokugawa Ieyasu than to deal with Yodono and Toyotomi Hideyori and his mother. Moreover, Tokugawa Ieyasu is full of intrigues. Who knows what tricks he will play?

Uh...well, Liu Xin doesn't think Tokugawa Ieyasu can be more ruthless than Gao Pragmatic in his conspiracy, but in politics, it is better to do less than to do more. Gao Pragmatic himself will not go to Japan to take charge personally. If you can't play well, it's hard to say.

We are not afraid of thieves visiting us, but we are afraid that thieves will miss us!

Therefore, apart from the Eastern Army and the Western Army, Gao Pragmatic has always been most inclined to directly support Toyotomi Hideyori, because he feels that controlling a pair of orphans and widowers is the easiest and safest.

However, Gao Jingshi also had his struggles before - not because of the moral pressure on him to "control orphans and widows", but because of the standpoint of Toyotomi Hideyori's "Toyotomi family" at that time , I can't find my position on the Battle of Sekigahara.

Originally, Liu Xin didn't understand this sentence. What does "the Toyotomi family can't find a position" mean? Isn't the Toyotomi family the so-called "people of the world"? Toyotomi Hideyori’s stance is that of justice! [Note: The so-called "people of the world" in Japan roughly mean those who control the world. ]

So when Liu Xin asked, "What were Toyotomi Hideyori and his son doing during the Battle of Sekigahara? Why didn't they have any sense of existence?" Gao Pragmatic said to her: "With all due respect, you are not asking about the Battle of Sekigahara. "What was the Toyotomi family doing at that time? It would be better to ask what else the Toyotomi family could do at that time?"

Gao Pingshi told her that the Toyotomi family originally included the So family (Hideyoshi, Tsurumatsu, Hidetoshi, Hideho), the Yamato family (Hidecho), the Hidetsu family (Hideji) and the Hidekatsu family (Hidekatsu).

However, when Tsurumatsu died in 1591, Hideyoshi adopted Hidetsugi as his adopted son and heir. The Hidetsu family was merged into the Toyotomi clan, and Hideho was adopted by Hideuchi, who died without heirs, and inherited the Yamato Toyotomi clan.

In 1592, Hidetatsu died without an heir, and the Hidetoshi family was cut off; in 1594, Hidetoshi succeeded Takakage Kobayakawa, and was renamed Hideaki Kobayakawa; in 1595, Hidetsu committed seppuku, and Hideyoshi killed Hidetsu's family, but Hideho died without an heir, and the Yamato Toyotomi family was cut off.

When Hideyoshi died in 1598, Hideyori succeeded the clan.

It can be seen that after 1595, only the main family of the Toyotomi family remained, and all the side branches had been wiped out. After Hideyoshi died in 1598, the Toyotomi family was left with only Toyotomi Hideyori, who remained until 1608 when Hideyori became his father.

In other words, how old was Hideyori at the time of the Battle of Sekigahara? What could he do? As for his mother Yodono, she actually couldn't really control the situation.

According to Hideyoshi's arrangement, before Hideyori comes of age, the power structure is the five big bosses plus five others, and no one else's business!

Hideyori, Chacha (Yodian), and others in Osaka Castle have no say or decision-making power. Moreover, the Western Army declared the Tokugawa rebels through a document jointly signed by Mori and Ukita. The previous Tokugawa Uesugi conquest was the pinnacle of procedural justice.

What the hell is the Uesugi Conquest? It was Ieyasu who said that Uesugi Kagekatsu, who was also one of the five elders, was reorganizing the military in his territory, and was then reported by Hori Hideharu. The central government (the actual person in charge, Tokugawa) immediately sent people to investigate. Of course, Masuda and others could come forward. They also asked or suggested that Jing Sheng go to Kyoto or Osaka to explain his innocence in order to prove his innocence.

As a result, Naoe Kanetsugu, the elder of the Uesugi family, wrote sarcastically about Ieyasu, called Hori Hideharu a villain and a coward, said that building cities and building roads should not be suspected, and said that collecting weapons and equipment was a "hobby of country samurai". In short, he refused to admit anything.

Why did Horie report it? On the one hand, you are rectifying your weapons, and people only report you when you have a problem (violating the general peace order); on the other hand, the Uesugi family is a monster and is hated by others. What can you say to deny it? When the feudal clan was first transferred, it was Uesugi who levied a full year's annual tribute and defrauded the Hori family.

Open your mouth and shut it up. Isn't it the Uesugi family who went to the old territory to collect annual tribute? Yes, Uesugi Kagekatsu has become a big boss. Hori Hidemasa, the late father of the Hori family, has been dead for many years, which means that the family has fallen into decline and cannot afford to offend Uesugi. He couldn't survive without food, so he had to borrow food from Shan Shan.

Uesugi borrowed the money, but the next year he hurriedly called for debts, forcing them to raise taxes and causing public resentment. When the Hori family reported it, they not only wanted to avenge Uesugi's old grudges, but the most important thing was to save their lives. When Uesugi made trouble, the first person in danger was the Hori family in Uesugi's old territory.

It is said that after Toyotomi's veteran Hori Hidemasa died of illness, his son was bullied in this way by a foreigner who relied on Toyotomi Hideyoshi to survive. Did Toyotomi's former minister feel chilled? Although the motive of the report was revenge, the report had been accepted.

Uesugi Kagekatsu insisted that bridges and roads should be built, and the city was built because it was small. I did not instigate the Echigo Ronin rebellion, and I did not go to Luo. According to the "Naoe Statement" that was later circulated, his words actually acquiesced to the Uesugi family. Things like straightening roads and collecting weapons were just quibbles and red herrings.

In other words, even if people as far away as Osaka believe that "Uesugi rebelled", there is no dispute.

It can be said that although they are all procedural justice, the procedural justice of Uesugi's expedition is more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. On the contrary, Ishida Mitsunari, a "sinner", suddenly showed up and took the two big guys, Mouri and Ukita, and signed a document jointly with the followers to get Ieyasu, which looked even more special and very suspicious.

Note here that it looks suspicious. After all, the armed forces of the Toyotomi family were in full force. Tokugawa was Hideyoshi's brother-in-law, and many of the generals in the Eastern Army were Hideyoshi's direct descendants. At least in the eyes of people who don't know Tokugawa's ambition...it's nothing more than the Toyotomi Army going to fight against the rebellion, and then another group of Toyotomi Army stabbing them in the back.

The Western Army used procedural justice to completely deny Tokugawa, but what Tokugawa did before was also procedural justice. Since both of you are engaged in collusion and procedural justice. What else can those orphans and widowers do except remain neutral and engage in a "retainer's struggle" with a flattering face?

Do you want to side with Tokugawa? Announcement of malicious collusion between the Western armies? Stop it! The Western Army even took away the armed forces in Osaka City. Against the Western Army? Let me reiterate every minute, little Hideyori, you have no right to speak or make decisions...

Do you want to side with the Western Army? Confirm that "Tokugawa is a traitor"? Stop it! All the generals of the Eastern Army are your family's retainers, so all of them must be stunned instantly.

I came out to fight for you, you say I am rebellious?

Then Tokugawa said calmly, "Look! Ishida, Fengxingzhong, Mouri, and Ukita have seized power and kidnapped the young master!"

Dongjun nodded unanimously, and then came to "Qingjun's side" even more determinedly! Anyway, the generals felt that Hideyori was really being held hostage, and Tokugawa knew that when Hideyori was held in his arms, he would definitely admit that it was a fact that he was "held hostage" before.

Therefore, remaining neutral is already the most correct choice between life and death!

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Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward and support, thank you!

Thanks to book friends "Cao Mianzi", "Sheng Ruxiahua 980705", and "Yan Yunhe" for their monthly support, thank you!

PS: I read the wrong time and was three minutes late...