On the 18th of February in the second year of Yongwu.
In Nagoya City, Matsuura Prefecture, Feizen Country, Tokugawa Ieyasu was holding a new year's financial meeting and government meeting. He reviewed the past, looked forward to the future, and announced what everyone needed to do and achieve in the new year.
It had been seven years since that world-shaking war. It had also been seven years since Japan was divided into three parts. It had also been seven years since Tokugawa Ieyasu left his hometown and was forced to be enfeoffed to Western Japan, a place he was not familiar with.
This year, Tokugawa Ieyasu would be fifty-seven years old. He already felt that his body was not as good as before, and his energy was not as good as before.
After the end of the war, he and his retainers, as well as the daimyo of the alliance, were forced to migrate to Western Japan by the Ming General Xiao Ruxun, who oppressed Japan at that time. They settled down and lived here, occupying one-third of the land of Nippon, and the other two-thirds was in the hands of the Toyotomi clan.
Originally, he planned to break the Toyotomi clan's domination of Nippon in one fell swoop, and then negotiate peace with Daming, bringing peace back to Nippon. However, things did not go as he wished. The Toyotomi clan was like a centipede that died but did not die. With the support of Maeda Toshiie and Ishida Mitsunari, they regained their foothold in Kyoto.
Kyoto was the capital of Nippon for hundreds of years. Not only did it have a strong political background, but it also had a righteous name, as well as a "Mikado" who had no real power but was still recognized by the world.
During the Warring States Period, the biggest wish of all the feudal princes was to "Shangjing", to be recognized by the Mikado and the court, to obtain the title of the Great General of Conquering Barbarians, and then to open a government, govern the world, and become the real ruler of Nippon, just like Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Although Toyotomi Hideyoshi was dead, the Toyotomi clan was still there. Under the leadership of Toyotomi Hidetsugu, the Toyotomi clan was re-established in Kyoto.
The Maeda clan and Ishida Mitsunari obviously supported the Toyotomi clan.
Although Ishida Mitsunari was not liked, Maeda Toshiie had great prestige. As long as he was there, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's close supporters and Owari's faction could maintain basic cooperation. The remaining power of the Toyotomi clan was still greater than that of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Moreover, because Tokugawa Ieyasu had killed Toyotomi Hideyoshi, many daimyo hated and hated, even if there were internal conflicts, they would stand together against Tokugawa Ieyasu., Toof Ieyasu. and Toyotomi clan. of Daimyo, Tokugawa Ieyasu of of of the Han of Japanese would not. and Ieshi. of.
But this was not all bad. Xiao Ruxun giving the slightly broken Japanese territory to Tokugawa Ieyasu was not a bad thing. Otherwise, Tokugawa Ieyasu would not have accepted it.
Western Japan had indeed been devastated by the war, but this also made it convenient for Tokugawa Ieyasu to quickly sort out the internal affairs, re-enfeoffment, quickly stabilize the people, and establish effective rule. At the same time, Western Japan had a traditionally strong naval advantage.
The remaining power of the Toyotomi clan was all obtained by Tokugawa Ieyasu. In the year after the war, he was able to organize many maritime merchant fleets south to Southeast Asia to do business with large and small countries and tribes, earning money, increasing income, and repairing the broken Western Japan.
Compared to the more serious internal disputes in Eastern Japan, the internal disputes in Western Japan were smaller. It was more conducive to external development rather than internal consumption.
Tokugawa Ieyasu maintained the largest territory and the largest interests, and was able to develop into the largest and strongest force in Western Japan, with absolute leadership.
But Toyotomi Hidetsugu did not. In order to win the hearts of the people and make up for the loss of some daimyo, the Toyotomi clan not only did not get anything, but also gave away some of the territory that was originally in the hands of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and the strength of the clan was greatly reduced.
It can be said that if there was no Maeda family and other big and small feudal lords to protect, Tokugawa Ieyasu was not afraid of Toyotomi Hidetsugu at all. But it was the group of feudal lords who were in a difficult position. Although there were many contradictions, Tokugawa Ieyasu had always been disgusted and disgusted with him, and it was impossible to reconcile.
Of course, the power of the Toyotomi clan was not good either.
Maeda Toshiie had a high prestige and seniority. After the war, he was the one who managed the overall situation of the Toyotomi clan.
In terms of political and military affairs, without his cooperation and support, Toyotomi Hidetsugu could basically not do anything, because the daimyo who supported him in the beginning were basically killed by Xiao Ruxun in North Korea.
Including Kato Kiyomasa and President Konishi, these daimyo who were heavily relied on by Toyotomi Hideyoshi died very miserably. Toyotomi Hidetsugu's own group of retainers was still relatively small, and it could not be all he could rely on.
Ishida Mitsunari was also a big stick that easily attracted hatred. Without Maeda Toshiie to mediate in the show, it was really hard to say whether the Toyotomi clan would not fall apart.
Maeda Toshiie was really an indispensable person in Toyotomi's side.
Not only did he have to restore the strength of the Toyotomi clan, but he also had to do his best to mediate the conflict between the Owari faction and the Japanese faction. He also had to restore and accumulate internal strength in preparation for the unification war that was bound to happen in the future.
Being unable to split himself was not a good thing for his lifespan.
Therefore, in these seven years, Tokugawa Ieyasu could clearly feel the slow development of the Toyotomi clan and the accelerated aging of Maeda Toshiie.
Tokugawa Ieyasu was good at forbearance. This had something to do with his experience when he was young. A person who was good at forbearance would not easily become agitated and do things that shocked the world. Killing Toyotomi Hideyoshi had already used up the agitation that he had accumulated for decades, and it was impossible for him to become agitated in a short period of time.
Therefore, he quietly developed himself in order to take a firm defensive position while waiting for Maeda Toshiie's death and the conflict within the Toyotomi clan to become white-hot.
He was already used to forbearance, just like how he was used to eating, drinking, breathing, and sleeping.
He had been forbearance all this time, but of course, forbearance was not necessarily all good.
Just like before, he had been forbearance, but he did not wait for Maeda Toshiie's death. Instead, he waited for the news of internal strife in the Daming Dynasty, which had been suppressing both of them.
The news of Xiao Ruxun's Northern Expedition was known by the well-informed Tokugawa Ieyasu in Nagoya Castle a month later. He was very shocked, but not surprised.
In his opinion, the conflict between the military and the imperial court was inevitable. Only by controlling the military could one have strength, and the military was the foundation. Xiao Ruxun was so famous, and he was so good at fighting. The imperial court would definitely suspect him and be jealous of him, so they forced him to rebel.
This was great news for Japan. With Xiao Ruxun's Daming's power to suppress the world, but without Xiao Ruxun's Daming, they would greatly lose their deterrence to the outside world. At that time, the Daming Dynasty, which was in internal strife, would have no time to pay attention to Japan. At that time, it would be the opportunity for him to send troops to Ishikami to take back Ishikami and conquer the world!
Naturally, he did not think that the Daming Dynasty would be defeated by Xiao Ruxun. Xiao Ruxun's defeat and death were certain, and the Daming Dynasty's power would be greatly damaged. When the news of Xiao Ruxun's death came, it would be the time for him to take action!
Of course, a month later, he found that the Toyotomi Clan had also adopted the same strategy as him. They stationed troops in the Ishikami area to monitor the movement of the Ming Army in the direction of Ishikami.
Even if Xiao Ruxun was dead, Wu Weizhong was still famous. The more than 10,000 troops under his command were not easy to deal with.
If they looked down on them, it was not impossible for them to fail miserably. The fighting capacity of the Ming Army in the past had left a deep impression on them.
The existence of these fears made them face the Ming Army more carefully. They carefully inquired about the news of the civil war of the Ming Dynasty. However, the direction of the civil war made them feel more and more strange. They felt that the situation was not quite right.
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