When Gao Jingshi made this analysis, Huang Zhiting was surprised that she didn't express much. Gao Jingshi thought she would be very angry, but he miscalculated.
Liu Xin thought about it and said: "This is really... This matter has never been solved in ancient times. You don't want to expose too much military strength now, especially the strength of the army, and you hope that the Shimadzu family can stand up. Say no to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Hey, if I were the governor of the Shimazu family, I would think you are making things difficult for me."
Gao Pragmatic was about to answer, but suddenly he found that Meng Guzhezhe, who had been standing aside obediently, was hesitant to speak. He couldn't help but feel moved in his heart and asked: "Menggu, what do you think?"
Meng Guzhezhe seemed startled when she saw Huang Zhiting and Liu Xin looking at her at the same time. She quickly lowered her head and said, "I am not from a native barbarian, so how can I have any insights?"
Before Gao Pangshi could say anything, Huang Zhiting actually spoke first: "Why can't a rural barbarian have some opinions? I am also a rural barbarian."
Gao Jingshi was quite surprised when he heard Huang Zhiting continue: "Now that I have asked you, if you have any ideas, just say it."
Meng Guzhezhe seemed to be surprised, but she didn't dare to show it. She glanced at Huang Zhiting quietly and saw that this "sister" was smiling at the moment and seemed to be encouraging her. She finally felt a little relieved and whispered. : "Actually, I just think that the Shimazu family's style of doing things is quite similar to that of our Jurchens."
"Oh?" This time it was Huang Zhiting's turn to be surprised and asked: "Where is the image?"
Meng Guzhezhe glanced at Gao Jingshi again, and Gao Jingshi nodded slightly, indicating that she could just say it. So she said: "Let's talk about our Ye He. My Ama... Oh, my father and uncle had not yet gathered strength in the early years. Ye He was not as powerful as Wan Khan within the Jurchens, and not far to the west was the Mongol Khan. The grassland can be described as a wolf in the south and a tiger in the west.
At that time, Ye He could only carefully deal with Wan Khan and Tumen Khan. He should not only respect Wan Khan as the lord of Manchuria and obey his orders, but also rely on Tumen Khan to obtain horses and cattle from him. The sheep were changed hands for business, and some of the cloth pots and pans obtained from the Beiguan trade were sold to the Mongols.
If he doesn't listen to Wan Khan's orders, Ye He may perish at any time; but if he doesn't listen to Tumen Khan's orders, Ye He may also starve to death. I just heard what the master said, and I feel that the Shimazu family is very similar to Ye He at that time, Toyotomi Hideyoshi is like Wanhan, and the Maritime Trade Alliance is like Mongolia..."
Gao Pangshi and the other three looked at each other, and none of them cared about her obviously politically incorrect statement of comparing the Sea Trade Alliance to Mongolia. Instead, Huang Zhiting asked with great interest: "Then how did Ye He become the first man in Manchuria today?" From a powerful chieftain?"
"Wan Khan loves face, especially when he gets older, and he always wants to make a big show."
Meng Guzhezhe recalled: "At that time, my father and brother were looking for opportunities to give Wan Khan face. Even if we took in the people who had fled from Hada, we would also obediently pay tribute to Wan Khan. Sometimes we took in too many people. After a while, we will also deliberately pay tribute to Wan Khan with some rare but insignificant things. Once Wan Khan is happy, he will not bother to ask more questions about his subjects.
After a few years of this, Hada began to decline, and we Yehe gradually became stronger. Not only did we have more people than Hada, but we also had more horses, pastures, and farms.
At this time, my father's brothers began to look for opportunities to snatch Hada's edicts. As the edicts gradually increased, Beiguan's trade gradually surpassed Hada's. By about two or three years before Wan Khan's death, Ye He had developed to the point where he could find any reason to go to Hada's village to rob. "
Meng Guzhezhe's words were just about Ye He's own affairs, but none of the three people here were stupid, and they all knew what she wanted to express.
The Shimazu family was indeed unconvinced by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and they were doing what Ye He and Baylor did in the past. It's just that the situation in Japan is still a little different from that of Jurchen, so brothers Shimazu Yoshihisa and Shimazu Yoshihiro cannot show the appearance of advancing and retreating together, but pretend to be restricted by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's methods, and one insists on the island. The independence of the Tsu family has become wavering, and there is a tendency to take refuge in the Toyotomi family at any time.
Yoshihiro Shimazu was later nicknamed "Oni Shimazu", and this ghost character not only represented the terror of combat power, but also connoted cunning. In other words, he is a smart guy who can act well.
Perhaps, this was his thinking behind gathering troops to prepare for the "Kwantung Expedition" according to Toyotomi Hideyoshi's wishes, and at the same time, he came to the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance for assistance under the banner of preparing for another "Kyushu Expedition" by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
But even so, Gao Pragmatic had no intention of taking back the assistance he had previously ordered to give them.
They are nothing more than two thousand old guns, including the Longqing II and Wanli I. They are all obsolete for Jinghua. If placed in southern Xinjiang, they will only be distributed to the second-line troops and will not be used by the police at all.
But it was a big deal that these muskets were sold to the Shimadzu family, because after the Shimadzu family was "reduced", they already had only more than 15,000 troops.
Moreover, the Shimadzu family is not comparable to Oda Nobunaga, who separated soldiers and farmers back then. This 15,000-strong army is not completely off-duty soldiers, which is the so-called standing ashigaru in Japan. Most of the fifteen thousand ashigaru of the Shimazu family were actually farmers and soldiers, and only the backbone were samurai scattered in Satsuma and Osumi.
Two thousand advanced muskets are enough to directly increase the level of the Shimadzu's army by a higher level of combat effectiveness. If the two thousand musketeers (Japanese called iron cannons) found an opportunity to fire three salvos in conjunction with their famous "fishing for wild ambush" tactic, the opponent's army of tens of thousands might be defeated on the spot.
After all, the Japanese army of this era was not the army that later commanded the "Japanese Military God" Nogi Nogi Nogi to kill the Russian fortress, and the battle damage ratio it could withstand was far less than that of the latter.
In Japan at this time, it is definitely not a shame to collapse with 10% casualties; if you can persist until 20% casualties are collapsed, then the commander can basically be called a famous general; as for those who can persist with 30% casualties, maybe You can already compete with the Dragon of Echigo and the Tiger of Kai.
Such a great gift, of course Gao Pragmatic is not given in vain. Selling at a low price is a good thing, and Jinghua's things are not cheap at all. However, for the Shimadzu family, good goods are the top priority. Of course, they are indebted to them for buying this batch of muskets.
The Shimadzu family currently doesn't have many ways to repay favors, and Gao Pragmatic doesn't intend to settle the bill now. However, Gao Pragmatic had considered the matter raised by Tatsuzawa Miyo before - Toyotomi Hideyoshi hoped that the headquarters of the Maritime Trade Alliance in Japan would be located in the castle town of Osaka. Now he can take the opportunity to do it and let Tatsuzawa Miyo in Osaka. Bancheng showed his worth.
Of course, we are not really moving our headquarters there, but we do intend to give Toyotomi Hideyoshi a face and actively establish a Kinki center in Osaka. There are two purposes for doing this. One is to prove his worth to Ryuzawa Sanyo, and the other is to further follow Toyotomi Hideyoshi's hair.
The former does not require much explanation. It is now almost 1590. If Ryuzawa Sanyo wants to be close to the future Toyotomi Hideyori, there is not much time left to make meritorious deeds, so he must hurry up.
To a large extent, the latter was also deliberately catering to Toyotomi Hideyoshi's increasingly arrogant psychology at this time, and actively encouraged him to continue doing what he wanted. The reason is not very complicated, because the current Longze Shiyang himself belongs to the "Practice Sect".
Gao Pragmatic and Liu Xin had previously discussed the struggle for Japanese power after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death, and concluded that with Toyotomi Hideyoshi's shrewdness, it was impossible not to restrict the major names headed by Tokugawa Ieyasu during his lifetime and after his death. . But Hideyoshi is not a god, so of course there will be unexpected things, let alone the unpredictable and complex situation after death.
The official position system of the samurai family created by Hideyoshi during his lifetime, with himself as the apex, tried to bind all daimyo within the framework of the regime he established. Moreover, during Hideyoshi's deathbed and after his death, the so-called "Five Elders and Five Advocates System" was established.
According to previous sayings, the Five Elders were the highest decision-making body of the Toyotomi regime after Hideyoshi's death, while the Fifth Elder was the practical organization that implemented the orders of the Five Elders. Together, they supported the Toyotomi regime before Hideyori became an adult.
Later Japanese scholar Osamu Wakada pointed out that two key factors contributed to the impression that the Five Elders were the decision-making organs of national affairs. One was that the order to withdraw troops from Korea was signed by the Five Elders, and the more critical second point was that it was led by the samurai family and temples. The right to know and act is in the hands of the five veterans.
Regarding the first point, Japanese scholar Sone Yuji pointed out that in addition to the five great foreigners, the five great foreigners also had their signatures (Note: See Sone Yuji’s article "The Withdrawal Order of Korean Troops"), so it was not the exclusive authority of the five great elders.
Regarding the second key point, the five elders did jointly sign (or some elders jointly signed, or even Ieyasu signed alone) a lot of "knowing and doing". There are several types of security blocking and transfer sealing.
Japanese scholar Horikoshi Yuichi sorted out 62 letters of knowledge and practice issued by the elders from December of the third year of Keicho (1598) to May of the fifth year of Keicho, and only four of them showed an increase in knowledge and practice.
Kobayakawa Hideaki had previously reduced the title to Echizen. On February 5, the fourth year of Keicho (1599) after Hideyoshi's death, the title was transferred to Chikuzen and Chikugo again, and his old Echizen territory was inherited by Shigeyoshi Aoki, who was also a relative of Hideyoshi. Increased from 80,000 to 200,000 stone.
However, there are special characteristics in the increase of knowledge and practice of these two people. First, they are both related to Hideyoshi. Second, it is clearly mentioned in the Wan Xingzhi that the increase of knowledge and practice is the purpose of Taikaku, that is, the implementation of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's plan before his death. This is obviously also to strengthen the power of "One Sect".
One month before that, on the 9th of the first lunar month, Shimazu Tadashi of Satsuma was awarded fifty thousand koku as a reward for his military merits in the Battle of Sichuan in Korea (Note: Shimazu Tadashi was the son of Yoshihiro. He did not go to Korea, and his military merits were actually It was his father Yoshihiro who called). On October 1 of the same year, Horio Yoshiharu was awarded fifty thousand koku as the fee for his general invitation to Echizen Fuchu Castle.
It can be seen from this that except for Kobayakawa Hideaki and Aoki Shigeyoshi, who fulfilled Hideyoshi's lifetime wishes, the proportion of the increase in knowledge and action co-signed by the elders is extremely small. As for the son's step-father's inheritance, the re-installation of Dang Zhixing, and the transfer of seals, these are just re-confirmations of the almost identical Zhixing.
Therefore, it can be seen from the above ratio that although the five elders have the right to know and practice, the examples of new knowledge and practice in the actual operation process are extremely limited.
On February 1, the fifth year of Keicho (1600), Tokugawa Ieyasu issued a unilateral decree, increasing Mori Tadamasa from Mino's seventy thousand koku to Shinano's 137,000 koku; on the same day, Tamaru Naomasa was exempted from five thousand koku military service; on February 7, an additional 60,000 shi were added to Hosokawa Tadaki Bungo enclave.
The reason why Ieyasu was able to do this happened to be that after the death of Maeda Toshiie, the other three elders were in their own country. After Mouri Terumoto and Ukita Hideie came back in April of the same year, no more daimyo added tomoyo.
Moreover, judging from the above-mentioned many actions, all of them are "acted by". It can be seen that the implementation subject of the award of knowledge and practice is not the five elders, but the five elders only perform the execution in name. The grantor is still Toyotomi Hide, who is the apex of power. rely.
Not only that, thirteen days before the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, that is, August 5, the third year of Keicho (1598), the five elders and the fifth elders exchanged petitions, promising each other to abide by the law and not to form factions. The requirements are the same.
Before Toyotomi Hideyori came of age, everything he knew and did must first be investigated in detail, and then discussed by Ieyasu and other elders plus five monks, and finally implemented in accordance with the principle of the minority obeying the majority.
As we all know, among the five practices, only Asano Nagamasa is slightly closer to Ieyasu, while Ishida Mitsunari is a strong anti-Ieyasu faction. Therefore, in most cases, the five practices have the numerical advantage.
In addition, the other elders do not necessarily want to see Ieyasu grow big or sell well alone. Therefore, although Ieyasu is placed in an extremely respected position at the head of the five elders, the most important authority of increasing knowledge and action is still Will be constrained by other elders and pursuits.
It can be seen that Hideyoshi's arrangement was very clever from the perspective of his own death. He used the prestige of the five elders to maintain the authority of the Toyotomi regime, but also limited the expansion of the power of the five elders through the five virtues.
This is just like using official positions to customize the sequence and prohibiting daimyo from intermarrying privately. The five elders and five followers system is also a way for Toyotomi Hideyoshi to check and balance the daimyo.
As we all know, the Toyotomi family's hiding place is about 2.2 million koku, which is why the Toyotomi family's strength far exceeds that of other daimyo (Note: Ieyasu's later so-called 2.5 million koku actually included a large number of retainers). If the increase is carried out in the name of the Toyotomi family, it will definitely reduce the hiding places of the Toyotomi family and weaken the strength of the Toyotomi family.
It is precisely because of this that Tokugawa Ieyasu's intention and goal was to increase the number of possessions and at the same time sell his own favors at the expense of the Toyotomi family's possession of the land, which could be said to kill two birds with one stone.
The existence of the Five Practices is precisely to avoid the occurrence of this kind of situation, which is why there are very few examples of actual increases in knowledge and practice just mentioned - for example, in the previous document on the increase of Shimazu Tadahashi, it is directly stated that in The hiding place of Satshu (northern Satsuma, the home base of the Sashu sect, one of the three major sects within the Shimadzu clan) was for Tomoyo, that is, the Shimazu family received 50,000 koku, while the hiding place of the Toyotomi family was 50,000 koku less.
The reason why the Five Elders are an important existence is that the failure of the invasion and the death of Hideyoshi made the dream of the daimyo to occupy Zhixingji through external invasion come to nothing. However, the price paid by the great names in Korea must be compensated, otherwise there will be trouble. The five elders want to suppress and mediate the ideas of these great names.
Having said that, there is no knowledge in Japan that can absorb the military achievements and expenditures of the daimyo who invaded Korea. If the Toyotomi family's hiding place is used to enclose these daimyo, it will have a negative impact on the Toyotomi family's economic foundation and its own strength. It was a huge blow, so this sharp contradiction was exploited by Tokugawa Ieyasu.
For example, while the other elders were away, Ieyasu's knowledge of Mori Tamasa and others increased, causing the Toyotomi family to lose hundreds of thousands of koku of hiding places. Moreover, what Hideyoshi did not expect was the death of Maeda Toshiie and the submission of his successor Maeda Toshinaga after his death; Ishida Mitsunari lost power due to the attack by seven generals; Uesugi Kagekatsu was dismissed in the name of justice by Tokugawa Ieyasu. crusade.
The original delicate balance has been broken. Mouri Terumoto and Ukita Hideie, who have a sense of crisis, may feel that they are next, while Masuda Nagamori, Maeda Geni and Nagasuke Masaie try to fight hard and restore the original situation. The situation of checking and balancing the big boss.
Therefore, the two elders and the third brother finally unite. This is also their final opportunity to overthrow Ieyasu. The Sekigahara War is the general liquidation under this situation.
After the victory of the Sekigahara War, Tokugawa Ieyasu was able to use the name of the Toyotomi family to lavishly grant titles to the generals who joined his side in the Sekigahara War, eventually reducing the Toyotomi family to a daimyo level of only 650,000 koku (although the Toyotomi family's Gongyi is still there, but the hiding place, one of the pillars of Gongyi, has been greatly reduced), achieving the previous purpose.
From the perspective of hindsight, regardless of whether the rules and regulations were formulated through the official position system, or whether the Toyotomi regime was fragile through quick promotion and resignation and the so-called ineffectiveness of the generation, in fact, the balance of the system pursued by the five big and old was broken and could not be digested. After returning from the invasion, the daimyo were dissatisfied, and the most important control over Tibet was gradually seized by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Under these many unfavorable circumstances, the demise of the Toyotomi family was only a matter of time.
It can be seen that the methods to check and balance the daimyo arranged by Hideyoshi before his death were not absent, nor were they not implemented, but there were too many unexpected and uncertain factors. In the final analysis, the trouble lies in the fact that Korea suffered huge losses and gained nothing.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi's troubles are what Gao Pragmatic wants, so now we must ensure that Toyotomi Hideyoshi will not give up invading North Korea because of the butterfly wings of Jinghua.
Therefore, Kyoka not only cannot bombard Osaka, but also gives Toyotomi Hideyoshi some sweet treats from time to time to maintain his affirmation of the illusion that he is powerful.
At the same time, every time you give him a sweetener, it is best to let his own spokesperson handle it. The best spokesperson is of course the group of people he sends out, followed by the people from the Shimadzu family.
Although the current position of the Shimazu family is not 100% on the side of Kyoto - or the Maritime Trade Alliance, that is because the Shimazu family now has the same illusion as Toyotomi Hideyoshi. When needed in the future, when the Sea Trade Alliance shows its strength, Gao Pragmatic will not be afraid of the Shimadzu family being dishonest.
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