Chapter 100 Section five

As a result of the Qingzhou Conference, Hashiba Hideyoshi gained an absolute advantage, but still left many sequelae. First of all, anyone who gains first-class power and income in one fell swoop is bound to make those around him jealous and heightened their vigilance.This might be called a side effect of success.From the death of Oda Nobunaga to the holding of the Kiyosu Conference, Hideyoshi won a big victory in Yamazaki in less than a month, pulling Niwa Nagahide, Ikeda Hengxing, Hori Hidemasa and others to his side, and greatly expanded territory.Today, in addition to Harima, Inaba, Tajima, Tanba, Yamashiro, Hanoi, and Awaji, the territory of the Hashiba family includes seven countries with a total of two million and hundreds of thousands of stones. In fact, Ukita from Bizen, Tsutsui from Yamato, and Tango are also under his command. Hosokawa, and Nakagawa and Takayama in Higashisettsu.In other words, nearly half of the old Oda family's territory has been brought under Hashiba's control.When this fact gradually spread, a feeling of annoyance that "we have been calculated" began to spread in the Oda family.

"Although he avenged the lord in the Battle of Yamazaki, he didn't deserve that much credit!" Such private discussions slowly turned into more violent backlash: "Just kidding, how can we be that monkey's home!" It seems that although Hideyoshi cleverly isolated Shibata Katsuya at the Qingzhou Conference, he may not have a complete advantage in the vast "public opinion" including the backbone generals. The second problem is diplomatic.Although this has not yet surfaced, the daimyos in the neighborhood certainly don't want any big power that can replace Nobunaga to appear above.The more turbulent the center of the state is, at least the big names from all over the country will not have to be afraid of being attacked in a short period of time. If it goes well, there may be a chance to covet the world.However, Hashiba Hideyoshi has included the western half of Kinai and the eastern part of China so quickly, and it is very likely that he will become a dangerous force not inferior to Nobunaga.So, regardless of Mori, Uesugi, Hojo or Nagamune, they all began to be wary of Hashiba Hideyoshi.

Among them, what worries Hideyoshi the most is Tokugawa Ieyasu, who pacified Kai and Shinano during this period and became the great lord of the Five Kingdoms.Ieyasu has always called himself "a relative of the Oda family", and he might support Nobunaga's son against the ever-expanding Hashiba Hideyoshi. The third and more practical question is how to rule the rapidly increasing territory and make the surroundings safe and peaceful.The Tamba and Hanoi that Hideyoshi just acquired were won by the Oda family after a fierce war. There are many rural military masters or Honganji disciples who hate the Oda family in the region.Kyoto and Shancheng are the most difficult to control the people of Kyoto, and they are also the dens of those conspirators who are capricious and talkative.In case of improper governance, rebellions in various places will swell, which will consume the combat power of the Yuchai family instead, and the gains will outweigh the losses.If the Oda family generals who are jealous of Hashiba's achievements or the neighboring daimyos try to disrupt the situation, the Hashiba family, whose foundation is unstable, may fall apart in an instant.At that moment, many veterans of the Oda family were watching the jokes and said sarcastically:

"It took ten years for Lord Nobunaga to settle in Kinai, let's see how capable this monkey from Hashiba's family is!" As his brother's staff member, Hidecho Koichiro took the most trouble to deal with the third problem.While his elder brother was actively negotiating in Owari Kiyosu, Koichiro was inspecting the mountains and fields of Tamba and the water towns of Hanoi, explaining to the people in the territory that he would govern the area with fairness and generosity in the future.It also stated that most of the rural samurai or villages can regain their previous territories and rights, and the imperial court or temples in Kyoto may also restore their inherent territories.As for the disciples of Honganji Temple who are disgusted by Nobunaga like snakes and scorpions, he also promised to be lenient.These promises have a considerable effect on calming people's hearts and reducing the will to rebel.After the long-term war and the strict rule of Nobunaga, the people in Kinai feel exhausted physically and mentally. Therefore, this approach makes most people have a mentality:

"Let's wait and see what happens, and see what Hashiba Hideyoshi-sama will do." On July 1, Hideyoshi entered Omi from Owari, skillfully walking on the route laid out by his younger brother Koichiro, and stabilized all parts of Kinai in an instant.As long as Koichiro made a verbal promise, Hideyoshi recognized it all, and many rural samurai or temples received letters from the "old leader Andu".Even Honganji Mitsusa, who had fought fiercely, took the initiative to send envoys to Dunmu, and also sent a letter to Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who was under the protection of Maori.Hashiba Hideyoshi, who once slaughtered Mt. Hiei under Nobunaga, attacked Harima, and Hideka with a mighty force, has successfully transformed through these actions, showing a different style of "world man" attitude from Nobunaga.

At the same time, Hideyoshi also worked hard on two other issues—the formation of public opinion among the old Oda family's ministers, and diplomacy with the neighboring daimyo—and achieved good results. First of all, he first built a city in Yamazaki, the place of victory, in order to boast of his military exploits and his status as the central ruler. At the same time, he appointed Asano Nagamasa and Kinoshita Keji as governors of Kyoto, showing his dominance over Kyoto to the world.On September 12, he asked his adopted son Hashiba Hidekatsu to hold a grand puja ceremony for Nobunaga's 100-day anniversary at Daitokuji Temple. On October 3, Emperor Shochinachi appointed him as the five major generals of the left guard.

In terms of diplomacy, Hideyoshi paid special attention to the Maori family, because in case of a fight with Shibata Katsuya and others, he must be friendly with Maori to consolidate his back.In a letter written to Mori Terumoto on July 17 that survives, Hideyoshi told him that Nobunaga's funeral would be postponed because he was busy building Yamazaki Castle.In spite of his busy schedule, he still sent letters with such content, presumably he had already sent a large number of letters before and after. In addition, at about this time, he also began to contact Uesugi Jingsheng, with the purpose of keeping Shibata Katsuie behind.

Mori and Uesugi were convinced that Hashiba Hideyoshi had gained an advantage, so they all responded happily to Hideyoshi's move to be pro-land. In the future, when Hideyoshi and Shibata Katsuie fought, they also showed goodwill to Hashiba's family with a neutral neutrality. However, it was Niwa Changhide who Hideyoshi treated most attentively during this period. During Hideyoshi's upward climb, Niwa Goro Zaemon Chohide has always been his boss, and he is also one of the few senior officials of the Oda family who has always treated Hideyoshi with kindness.And the two of them can maintain such a good relationship, probably because Niwa is indifferent to fame and fortune, and has a timid personality.When Nobunaga wanted to confer official positions on the generals, only Changxiu dismissed him, saying:

"I just need to be Goro Zuo for the rest of my life." In the end, he only accepted the surname of "Weizhu", a famous family in the west of the town.In addition, he also looked down on the increase of territories. When Nobunaga died, he only owned Omi Sawa Yamashiro and Wakasa, a total of 100,000 shi, which was far less than other "military commanders" of the Oda family at that time. .Therefore, the 200,000 koku territory of Omi County, Shiga, and Takashima that Hideyoshi allocated to him after the Battle of Yamazaki may have made Niwa Nagahide feel that it was an excessive reward.All his life, the man didn't seem to have had the sense to measure his status by comparison with others.

However, among the retainers of the Oda family, his ranking is second only to Katsuya Shibata, far higher than Hideyoshi Hashiba.Hideyoshi respects this matter, even though he has become the lord of the Seven Kingdoms, he still often let Changxiu sit on the seat, and he must remember to discuss with Changxiu in terms of form.From August to the end of the year, Hideyoshi entertained Nagahide dozens of times and met with him to discuss major issues. For this reason, Niwa Changhide also felt Hideyoshi's kindness and influence, and the two families formed a more stable alliance.For Hideyoshi, who was treated coldly in the Oda family, the unchanging support of the second elder must be extremely precious and irreplaceable.

During the three months after the Kiyosu Conference, Hashiba Hideyoshi made up for his weaknesses one after another, and turned his simple advantages into a truly advantageous position.This order arrangement is ingenious, just like a celebrity playing chess. First, the overall situation is quickly laid out, and then the established territory is consolidated in a flash. After completing these preparations, Hideyoshi immediately announced that Nobunaga's funeral would be held at Daitokuji Temple in Kyoto on October 15th, with Nobunaga's fourth son, his adopted son Hashiba Hidekatsu, as the chief mourner. This is a blatant challenge to Nobutaka Kobe and Katsuie Shibata who supported him behind the scenes.At that time, Kobe Nobutaka had brought the three-year-old child Sanshishi, who became the head of the Oda family, into Gifu City, just like a parent.So when announcing the matter, Hideyoshi also unceremoniously accused Nobutaka and others of being unfilial, saying that he let the fourth son Hidekatsu preside over the funeral of his deceased father because the other sons had no intention of taking any action. Of course, this is far from the truth.Kobe Nobutaka, who held the three chief priests of the Oda family, joined forces with Shibata Katsuie, Takikawa Kazuyoshi and others to prepare for the funeral of Nobunaga in Gifu Castle, but the time was repeatedly delayed because the Oda family Some members, especially Nobuo Kitabata, who believes that Hideyoshi will support him, have been making things difficult for him, and they are unwilling to hold a funeral with Nobutaka as the main one.Hideyoshi himself also attacked Nobuko, saying that Nobuko had violated the agreement since August and refused to send the three masters to Anzu, so as to prevent Nobuko from holding the funeral.In other words, the prerequisite for gathering everyone in the family to hold the funeral is that Xinxiao sends the three masters to Antu. Perhaps it should be said that in the funeral held at Daitokuji Temple with Hashiba Hidekatsu as the head of mourning, it was Hideyoshi who deliberately drove the enemy to a desperate situation, and then preemptively struck.Kobe Nobutaka and Shibata Katsuie will of course be furious. But because of this, Hideyoshi must do more grandly, on the one hand, to promote the image of "loyal Hideyoshi", and to show the world who is the real powerful person. "This time I will hold an unprecedented luxurious funeral." Hideyoshi repeatedly emphasized to Koichiro.And Hideyoshi does have the ability to plan activities, and he will use this ability to the fullest in the future.Perhaps this is the greatest ability that my brother learned from the old master Nobunaga.And this time Hideyoshi racked his brains and spared no expense to plan this event, which is indeed unprecedented. Nobunaga's coffin was topped with a wreath, decorated with jewels, decorated with gold and silver, covered with gold gauze and gold rails, and replaced the missing body when the Honno-ji Temple burned with a wood statue carved with agarwood.He also borrowed Rendaiye, the crematorium of emperors since the Heian period, and filled every space in the nearly 3,000 square meters of Daitokuji Temple with monks and participants. However, there are naturally many problems with big ostentation, the most troublesome of which is the problem of security.In particular, it is extremely difficult to hold an event of unprecedented grandeur amidst the outright hostility of the opponent.In case someone disturbs or sets fire to the funeral, it will make people question Hideyoshi's dominance over Kyoto and expose his own weakness. Therefore, no matter what, we must try to maintain the safety and security of Luozhong.Koichiro was naturally ordered to provoke this difficult task. He commanded 30,000 soldiers to stick to the Jingluo area, not to mention setting fire to riots, and even taking advantage of the opportunity to pickpocket and punish them severely. On the day of the funeral, the luxurious coffin carrying Nobunaga's coffin was carried by Ikeda Tsuneko's son Terimasa on the front shaft, the bereaved master Hashiba Hidekatsu carried the rear shaft, and marched mightily towards Rendaiye, while Hideyoshi himself carried the coffin. Tablets and broadswords are at the forefront of the team.Koichiro Hidecho is still as usual, playing an inconspicuous but hard-working role, standing among the endless guard soldiers, watching this luxurious team gradually go away. However, the elder brother published "Yiren's Retirement Story" written by Omura Yuki on the same day, even Koichiro couldn't help being speechless.The publication of this book was only four months after the incident. According to the speed at which books were published at that time, it was simply a special case among special cases.Moreover, Hideyoshi made hundreds of transcripts and distributed them from Jingluo to remote small countries, showing the whole world the tricks of asking for credit that he used to perform for Nobunaga alone, without any shame. "Brother can react so quickly and know how to publicize so well, I really can't match it." As Koichiro thought, he felt very lucky that he could follow such a capable master...