There is naturally a reason why Tokugawa Ieyasu was so surprised and nervous about the news of Kaibihime returning to Japan, especially her appearance in Kaimin.
The most direct reason is that, according to his previous secret discussion with Gao Pragmatic, Kaiji will discuss the specific matters of adopting an adopted son with him when he returns to Japan this time. However, this matter cannot be done too early in Ieyasu's plan.
Ieyasu's plan should actually be divided according to its purpose. It can basically be divided into three strategies: upper, middle and lower strategies:
The purpose of the best policy is to ensure Japan's independence and prevent external forces from interfering in domestic affairs. Of course, it can also preserve the so-called Japanese national system;
The purpose of the middle strategy is to try to ensure that outside forces will not intervene directly when the top strategy cannot be achieved, but through Tokugawa Ieyasu. In this case, although the situation may be a little embarrassing, Japan's national system should still be able to be maintained;
The purpose of this last policy was to try to ensure that the Tokugawa family name and bloodline could be continued when the first two items could not be achieved. As for other aspects, they could not care about it. This ending is the worst. Ieyasu even pessimistically believes that if it reaches that point, the name and bloodline of the Tokugawa family may not have much meaning.
The above is just the purpose. Of course, Ieyasu has thought carefully about the specific situations that may occur many times.
To achieve the best strategy, the first important thing is to make Gao Pragmatic think that Japan is a hedgehog, making him feel that although he has a good appetite, he is unwilling to eat.
Because of this, Ieyasu has been trying his best to avoid conflicts with Ishida Mitsunari during this period. He was only prepared to be soft and hard when Mitsunari instigated Maeda Toshiie and others to do small things against him.
According to his understanding of Maeda Toshiie, this person has a relatively good view of the overall situation. As long as he has enough power in Kinki, Maeda Toshiie will definitely not take risks for the sake of the overall situation and cause the two sides to fight each other.
Ieyasu is convinced that Toshiie knows very well that if they develop to that point when Taiko has passed away, Japan will be completely in chaos, and that would violate the last wishes of Nobunaga and Hideyoshi.
And as long as they don't get into trouble, the conflicts between the other daimyo, or the conflicts between the military commander faction and the obedient faction, will definitely be suppressed. After suppressing this contradiction, Japan seems to have remained united and maintained its 500,000-strong army.
The fighting power of the Ming army was very strong, of which Tokugawa Ieyasu had no doubt. If we were not strong, how could the Korean battlefield be so miserable? However, no matter how strong the Ming army was, facing Japan, which had an army of 500,000 and shared the same hatred, it had to consider the cost of a cross-sea expedition and the possible huge battle losses.
Through Hidetada's observations at Misaki Castle and his summary of the Korean battlefield, Ieyasu believed that the Ming army was strong, but its ability to withstand casualties was probably far less than that of Japan.
Two examples can illustrate this point: In the first battle example, after the battle at Biti Pavilion, Li Rusong immediately retreated, and was obviously unwilling to fight any more tough battles in subsequent battles, showing a very obvious desire to preserve his strength.
Ieyasu understands the mentality of preserving strength. After all, the Tokugawa family can grow from a mere Mikawa to where it is now, and it is necessary to implement this concept into all strategies.
But the problem is that in the battle of Bitiguan, the Ming army's battle losses were actually much lower than the Japanese army. The Japanese army clearly had advantages in terms of tactics and strength, but in the end the battle losses were more than three times that of the Ming army.
But under such a result, the Ming army retreated without saying a word. On the contrary, the Japanese army could insist on waiting and watching until they found that the other Ming armies began to approach in different directions. Considering that they were really unable to defeat them, they had no choice but to retreat.
The second example is the Battle of Pusan, especially the Battle of Ulsan, the outpost of the Battle of Pusan.
In this battle, according to the battle report sent back to Japan by Kato Kiyomasa and others, Ulsan Japanese Fortress fell quickly due to poor consideration of the Ming army's tactics at the beginning, and the Japanese army could only withdraw to Dosan Japanese Fortress on the other side of the Twin Cities. , despite stubborn resistance, the situation is actually extremely dangerous.
Although the Shimayama Japanese Castle was built to be easy to defend and difficult to attack, according to the battle report submitted by Kato Kiyomasa himself, as long as the Ming army continued to maintain the offensive, for up to five more days, the Japanese army, which also suffered heavy casualties, would be unable to resist; even if the Ming army only surrounded If we don't attack, then in about ten days, most of the Japanese army will starve to death, and the remaining people will be exhausted and unable to fight anymore.
Ieyasu completely believed in this judgment, because he knew that when Kiyomasa wrote this battle report, the Japanese troops in the city had already begun to eat soil-eating soil in the physical sense.
However, under this situation, the Ming army could no longer withstand the casualties and took the initiative to stop the attack. As a result, it gave the Japanese army some breathing space. Many Japanese soldiers took the opportunity to escape from the city in batches and ran to the beach to spear fish.
Although they did not have suitable tools and the actual fish catch was very limited, the Japanese army's rations were less than half of the Ming army's. The food intake was very small. The food required to feed one Ming army could feed two Japanese soldiers (of course this also resulted in The Japanese army is short. If both sides have similar fighting wills, if they fight alone, the Japanese army will be obviously at a strength disadvantage);
Secondly, although the fish catch was small, it boosted morale greatly. This led to the fact that after the Ming army resumed their offensive, they were surprised to find that the Japanese army had become energetic again, which in turn affected the morale of the Ming army itself.
In short, Ieyasu's point of view is that the Ming army is "squeakier" than the Japanese army, or they think they are more "valuable" than the Japanese army and are unwilling to waste it in vain. Even Ieyasu felt that maybe the generals of the Ming army thought so too - after all, he was a heavenly soldier and a heavenly general, so how could he compare human life to that of the barbarians? It's so unreasonable.
The Ming army as a whole is like this, but what about Gao Pragmatic's own private army? Undoubtedly only more so.
There are reasons to support this view, that is, through Xiuzhong, he learned about the salaries, pensions and pension policies of Jinghua's armed servants (the policy mainly targets the families of disabled servants and those who died in the war).
Although Ieyasu knew that Kyoka was extremely wealthy, it was still too scary to pay dozens of taels of silver for the death of one person in the war. If Japan follows this policy and a random war breaks out between two daimyo, I'm afraid they will have to take a break for at least ten years. During these ten years, they will do nothing but tighten their belts and pay back the money.
Therefore, Ieyasu believes that the best way to make Gao Pragmatic unwilling to directly launch a war to conquer Japan is to make him think that conquering Japan is a loss-making business. This price does not need to be too high. As long as the armed servants like the defenders of Misaki City may lose 10,000 people in the battle, it is estimated that Gao Pragmatic will carefully consider whether this battle should be avoided and whether he can consider finding another way to achieve his goal.
If Gao Pragmatic decided to "find another way to achieve the goal", it means that Tokugawa Ieyasu at least avoided the worst result of the "low policy" and reached the level of "middle policy".
Zhongce, Ieyasu believes that from a highly pragmatic perspective, the main purpose is strategic deterrence. Of course, it may also involve a local war of limited scale but with considerable impact.
It’s hard to say where exactly this battle will take place, but Ieyasu believes that it will most likely be in the core area of Japan, and the target should be a certain military that is recognized throughout Japan as having stronger strength.
The first area that meets this condition is Kinki, and the ones that are qualified to be the enemy army are none other than the Toyotomi direct army, Tokugawa army, Maeda army or Maori army in the hands of the five old-level armies—— Of course, the Toyotomi family's military commander faction also had strong troops, but they were all daimyo. One family alone was not enough to fight Kyoka, and it was too difficult to form a coalition, so Ieyasu did not consider it.
The Tokugawa Army will definitely not fight the Kyoka Army. Ieyasu has a very clear understanding of this: even if the force is three to one, it may not be able to defeat it. Even if he manages to gather more troops and takes advantage of the tactics, he will eventually win. ,So what?
If Gao Pragmatic is really offended, he will have more than 200,000 troops in southern Xinjiang alone. No one can give Ieyasu an accurate estimate of how many there are in the Ming Dynasty.
If Gao Jingshi felt that he had lost face and had to get it back, and with his order, 100,000 armed servants from Beijing landed in Japan, wouldn't that be a "bad move" again? What's more, this situation is worse than expected, because the word Tokugawa will completely become history.
Therefore, Ieyasu and Gao Pragmatic had already discussed the adoption matter, so that the Tokugawa family would definitely not become a target. So, who in Kinki may be targeted by Kyoka now? There are no more than two groups: Toyotomi's own army, and the Maeda army that was just transferred from Kaga.
Because of this, Ieyasu was so surprised and even nervous when he heard that Kaiji had arrived at Kai Port and asked him "if he needed help." In his opinion, Kaiji's words meant that Jinghua was already considering establishing his authority. And since she is in Jiegang, the target area where the war may break out is of course Kinki.
For a moment, Ieyasu even suspected that Kaiji wanted to take Osaka directly and forcibly control Hideyori.
In his opinion, Kaiji had the motive and the strength to do so. Even judging from the battlefield control ability she showed in the battle of Ninja Castle, she also had the confidence to do so.
Jiegang, haha... There are more than 10,000 Beijing troops there. Which big businessman in Jiegang doesn't hire some iron gunners, swordsmen, ronin, ninjas and so on? Many of these big businessmen hate the Toyotomi family to their core and rely on Jinghua's goods to make money. There is no need to ask about their position!
Moreover, they also have ships... The sneak attack on Osaka from the border port is only thirty miles away, but Kaiji can choose whether it is by sea or by land. This is not morning and evening, but morning and afternoon. If Osaka was not prepared, it would be almost impossible to react.
Therefore, Ieyasu believes that the most critical thing at this time is to stabilize the situation in Kinki and not give Kaiji a chance to take action. Only by stabilizing Kaiji and preventing her from making trouble again, and ultimately failing to take action, can we say that we have ensured the "middle strategy" and can attack the "best strategy".
If you want to achieve the best strategy, firstly, you need to stabilize Kaiji and prevent her from finding an opportunity to interfere. Secondly, you need to act quickly. You need to seize power before Jinghua can't restrain her restlessness and skip the Toyotomi public ceremony. Shogunate.
Ieyasu believes that Takashi understands Japan's national conditions, so as long as the shogunate is established, even if Toyotomi Gongyi still exists in name, it will not be a big problem, because it can be completely emptied by the shogunate, and it will be completely eliminated when there is an opportunity in the future. Abolish it.
It doesn't matter even if Chiki has to marry Hideyori due to her previous promise to Taiko. Even if this is the case, I might as well use this as an excuse to save Hideyori's life, which is worthy of Taiko - as long as Gao Pragmatic does not object.
In short, establishing the shogunate before Jinghua sends troops to intervene will most likely achieve the best strategy. After all, the future general of the shogunate will be his pragmatic son. His ability to agree to the adoption shows that he can accept this indirect way of obtaining the rule of Japan.
"Send someone to reply to Misaki-don and tell her that the situation in Kinki is under my control. As the last part of the plan, Jie Hong's military force has not yet been exposed. Please wait patiently. In addition, tell her that Hidetada has returned to Jiang Hu, the Tokugawa family has nothing to worry about, please rest assured."
"Yes, does His Highness have any other instructions?" Jing Yinzhizheng asked.
Ieyasu shook his head, and Iyin Naomasa quietly left.
After everything was done, Ieyasu immediately prepared to go out. The people who were invited to Arima Hoinfu to appreciate Sarugaku today include Intatsu Masamune, Mogami Yoshimitsu, Kyogoku Takaji and the Kochi brothers, as well as Tomita Nobtaka, Hori Hidemasa, Kamao Hideyuki, Tanaka Yoshimasa and others.
Ieyasu has made plans with Arima Hoin and Toudo Takatora, and talks with everyone while watching the monkeys, so as to find out the details of everyone. But judging from Qingzheng’s words just now, most people’s direction is already very clear. He felt a little more relieved. It seemed that there were still many sensible people in the world!
Ieyasu's heart became much brighter, but when he thought about Kiyomasa and Hokusei's concerns, he felt very depressed. It was the Toyotomi clan's tragedy to have no generational retainers, and in his later years, Hideyoshi made many of his former comrades suffer enough and die. He was like breaking the door of a tamed beast's cage before suddenly passing away.
Those who had followed him since childhood were now divided into two factions, competing for the scarce food. And in this way, Yinda, Uesugi, Maori, Shimazu and other ferocious beasts may cause chaos again and covet the world. While the mantis stalks the cicada, with the oriole behind, Jinghua, who has been spying on Japan's every move, is an even more difficult danger to resist.
Fortunately, these ferocious beasts are still a little tired and have not recovered yet. However, if they cannot act decisively in time and repair the cage door as soon as possible, the dream of unification of the world that Nobunaga, Taikaku and Ieyasu have been pursuing will be lost. To be reduced to nothing.
Ieyasu took only a few followers and went straight to Arima Hoin's residence in Kyobashi. Along the way, he was thinking about Hokkaido and Kiyomasa, secretly admiring them, but at the same time he felt extremely sad: the behavior of Hokkaido, Kiyomasa and others must be betrayal in the eyes of Mitsunari.
The Beizheng Office has personally experienced the war in troubled times. When Nobunaga was forced by Mitsuhide and finally surrendered to the Honnōji Temple, Hideyoshi gathered the ferocious beasts under his command in the name of "avenging his lord" and used his strength to exclude Nobunaga's disciples from the stage of power.
Of course, Ieyasu believed that Hideyoshi was not a very evil person, because at that time Nobunaga's descendants did not have the ability to tame the ferocious beasts of troubled times. Hideyoshi, who initially pacified the world, passed away with hatred before the Korean War ended, and the same crisis as when Lord Nobunaga died suddenly came again. Moreover, Hideyoshi's orphan was far more naive than Nobunaga after him.
In this case, Japan can only hope that the second Hideyoshi will clean up the mess, and also be able to deal with the "oriole" with the power of only one insect. Who is this second person? It can only be my Ieyasu!
I must have thought about it a lot, and finally ordered Kiyomasa and others to guard me. Her tragic determination and desolate helplessness were hidden behind this order. Of course, they did this just because they wanted to join forces with me to seek peace and security for the Toyotomi clan. Mitsunari and Qingzheng, who is the loyal minister and who is the traitor?
Ieyasu and others arrived in front of the Arima Hoin mansion, and the breeze carried the sound of small drums from the mansion. On the surface this is an ordinary Sarugaku play, but the atmosphere is very unusual.
In front of the gate, the entourage of the great names were all fully armed, nervous and ready, and there were also some errands running in and out in a hurry. They must all be worried about their master's safety, as they constantly bring news from Osaka and immediately accept orders to return. When these people saw Ieyasu, they all calmed down and bowed respectfully.
The master, Arima Hoin and Toudo Takatora, came out together. Ieyasu nodded slightly to them, walked in, and said, "Has it started already?"
"Yes. Your Highness came late today. Did something happen? Everyone is very worried." Todo Takatora asked quietly.
Ieyasu had an expressionless face and replied coldly: "It's impossible that anything will happen. And I will never allow anything to happen!"
Arima Hoin was very surprised by Ieyasu's reaction, but before he could say anything, Ieyasu said again: "Go in first."
"I am deeply honored to see you, Your Highness. Then, after a short rest, I will invite Your Highness to enjoy the music again."
"His Royal Highness Todo, please serve tea." Hoyin continued to receive guests, while Takatora Todo was in another room having a secret conversation with Ieyasu.
Ieyasu could hear the sound of small drums and flutes in his ears, as well as the sound of tea boiling in a tea cauldron.
"I heard that the envoy has returned." Gao Hu bent down to look at the tea cauldron and said nonchalantly, "But the matter is far from over."
Ieyasu didn't answer, he just glanced at Takatora quickly and sat down.
"Even though Sanzheng has realized his disadvantage, this time, the generals headed by the chief planner are unwilling to give up. They also seem to realize that the source of the turmoil lies in Sanzheng, and they will never give up. Alas, Sanzheng is so suspicious. It's heavy."
"I will not let them riot, and I will not allow riots to occur now." Ieyasu repeated what he just said, and then said: "The funeral has not been held yet."
"Your Highness, Matsui Saotari, the elder of the Hosokawa family, is also worried. He said that if we just sit back and ignore these situations, under Mitsunari's instigation, everyone will definitely be unfavorable to Maeda."
"good."
"Hosokawa Etsuchu Shou seems to have taken action, and the reclusive Hosokawa Fujitaka must be at work." As he spoke, Takatora held the tea in front of Ieyasu and said, "I don't know how Maeda Oinagon will react. He is really stubborn sometimes. But even if the Mahanayan is as stable as a mountain, civil servants and military generals still hate each other..."
Not sure if Ieyasu was listening, he casually picked up the tea bowl and sipped the tea loudly.
"If Danagon and Zuofu can talk to each other heart to heart, the problem will be solved... Matsui and others also think so." While Ieyasu drank tea, Takatora continued, his tone calm and peaceful: "Takatora also thought so at first. If If Zuofu and His Highness Maeda can work together, no one will dare to covet the world. Everyone will hide their claws obediently and stay away. But the world is so unpredictable that it is difficult to achieve what one wishes." After that, he picked up the Ieyasu put down the bowl and asked, "How about another bowl?"
"No."
"Nowadays, those people are ambitious and trying to usurp the world..." Takatora wiped the tea bowl quietly and said with a smile: "Originally, His Highness Maeda didn't like Mitsunari, so as long as you lobby, you can win him over. In this way, Dana will Yan and Zuofu drove Sancheng into a dead end. If he retreats when he sees the difficulty, it's okay; once he is cornered and still fighting... I will be very worried. "
"indeed."
"In addition, in addition to Dayan Yan and Zuofu, there are three other elders. This can easily give people the illusion that Sancheng and others have an advantage."
Ieyasu showed a wry smile and said, "Todo, you don't have to worry."
"I'm not worried, it's just..."
"I'm sure of victory."
"how do I say this?"
"How can 30% of you be my opponent? What I am facing is how to inherit the legacy of Nobunaga and Taikaku, and how to work hard to create a peaceful and prosperous age - this is the most important thing. To realize this wish, I must I will try my best to prevent chaos from happening, carefully make up for my shortcomings, and let those who are ignorant understand my difficulties."
"Your Highness Mingjian."
"But this matter cannot be rushed. Rushing will lead to chaos, and chaos will lead to changes. Therefore, I want to ask you to convey my intention to the generals and ask them not to act rashly. Remember, this is definitely not a few ambitious thieves. It can stir up chaos in the world. We should be as forgiving as gods and Buddhas, and impress them with sincerity... I want Sancheng to understand what I mean."
Ieyasu slapped his chest and said with a smile: "I am not afraid if something unexpected happens. In the battle of Komaki, Taige did not gain the upper hand on me. Just fighting blindly cannot create peace. It is only right to let people do their best. I am right I already have this in my mind, otherwise how can I govern the world? Why talk about a peaceful and prosperous age? Speaking of which, it was Nobunaga and Taikaku who made me understand these truths."
Gao Hu, who had been listening attentively, raised his eyes and said teasingly: "So, Zuofu also wants to let Sancheng show his full potential?"
"Exactly." Ieyasu nodded vigorously: "You can't live in vain. My ambition will never change because of my opponents."
"You can't live your life in vain..." Gao Hu muttered it again, and then asked with a smile: "That's true. It seems that no matter what, we must make sure that 30% of our lives are not in vain."
Ieyasu didn't answer. From Takatora's smile, it was clear that his understanding of his words was too superficial. Gao Hu must have thought that Ieyasu continued to let Mitsunari jump around because it was actually for his own benefit. No matter how he preaches, the gap in ideas cannot be shortened in a short period of time, and the opportunity to convince the other party is far from mature - thinking of this, Ieyasu stopped talking.
Gao Hu leaned forward slightly and lowered his voice: "Your Highness Mingjian. It seems that I am very shallow and stupid. At the moment, it may be wise to indulge 30%."
Ieyasu was stunned.
"Your Highness, think about it, the more this person acts wantonly, the more famous people will distance themselves from him. Wonderful, it is more useful to keep him."
Ieyasu waved his hand with a wry smile and said, "That's all, let's not talk about this. We must be prepared to deal with sudden changes at any time. Of course, it is also important to maintain self-respect. As the saying goes, do your best and obey fate. As long as your heart is right, you will not be reckless or reckless. Regret. Patience is born from this, and it will soon be beneficial to him."
At this moment, the master Arima Fayin walked in. "The guests can't wait any longer." Fayin said with a smile on his face, "Zuofu, there is nothing to worry about. On the way from the humble residence to your house, Dr. Mori Ukon will be guarding you. Before evening, Chief Accountant Kato and others will also go together. Your mansion.”
Ieyasu closed his eyes gently, feeling both funny and sad at the same time. It seems that Fayin also regarded the behavior of those people as being intimidated by Ieyasu's power, and he only followed Ieyasu's lead. How can we achieve great things by relying on such people? If we want to live up to the grace of gods and Buddhas, complete the great cause of reunification, and prevent outsiders from directly intervening in Japan, we must have a sincere heart internally and be full of confidence at all times.
Ieyasu's inner opponent was never Ishida Mitsunari. What he is most worried about now is when his pragmatic patience will reach its limit, and whether he can complete the plan and achieve the best strategy within this time period.
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Thanks to book friends "Cao Mianzi" and "book friend 20201203112103567" for their reward support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "malyvu", "Cao Mianzi", "book friend 20201203112103567", and "book friend 20170929073906534" for their monthly ticket support, thank you!
PS: I just couldn’t finish last night. Today’s chapter is 6K, so I only owe 1K. After looking at the schedule for the next few days, I can probably make up for it tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
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