Chapter 19 Ninth story Yodohime and her son-3

After Hideyoshi's death, it stands to reason that the situation in which his cronies were in power should be over, and their political cronies should be disbanded.The leader of this crony is Ishida Mitsunari. However, whether it is the situation where cronies are in power or their cronies, they are all preserved in the system.Hideyoshi passed the will and ordered his subordinates to reorganize the management system of the Toyotomi family.Tokugawa Ieyasu replaced Hideyori in administrative affairs, and Maeda Toshiie served as the protector of the Toyotomi family.With these two as the highest leaders, a supreme decision-making body composed of five elders was established including the two of them. This is the so-called "five elders".Under it, the "Three Seniors" were set up as mediating organs.Next, there is the "Five Orders" composed of Ishida Mitsunari and others, which serves as the de facto executive body of the Toyotomi regime.For this reason, the influence of the late Hideyoshi's cronies was also institutionally preserved after the new era came.

However, this is just a system after all.With Hideyoshi's death, his cronies were virtually powerless.While Hideyoshi was alive, princes everywhere feared them.However, since Hideyoshi is dead, all the original supernatural powers and omnipotent mana will disappear with it. "The root of all the ills of the Toyotomi regime lies in them." This is the unanimous voice of a group of princes who suffered from Hideyoshi in his later years.They couldn't hold hatred against Hideyoshi himself, so they cursed his cronies. "Jibu Shaosuke can't spare him!" Among them, Hideyoshi's wife Beizhengsuo and the maids around her were the most resolute.In their eyes, Ishida Mitsunari does not seem to be the chief executive in charge of the world's administration, but just a private secretary next to Hideyoshi. It can also be said that he is not Hideyoshi's personal secretary, but only the agent of Yodohime's personal interests.After Hideyoshi's death, the center of Toyotomi's family naturally turned to the young boy Hideyori and his mother, and Ishida Mitsunari was their agent.If such a situation is left unchecked, then from now on, they will play with that powerful power even more than when Hideyoshi was alive, and it is inevitable.

Fortunately, above the consul Ishida Mitsunari, there is another higher authority.The representative of this organization is Ieyasu Tokugawa.Both the Beizheng Office and the maids around her believed that it was necessary to rely on Ieyasu's strength to suppress the momentum of the agent of Yoshihime's mother and son.After Hideyoshi's death, Beizhengsuo and Ieyasu quickly approached each other.For a period of time, there were discussions in the court: "Is there any ambiguous relationship between the two of them!" Since the two communicated very frequently, judging from the conversation, the content was particularly detailed and the relationship was very harmonious, so that the above-mentioned obscene guesses arose.

At that time, among the generals who returned triumphantly from North Korea, most of them were very dissatisfied with the central government's evaluation of their military exploits during the battle.They believe that the culprit of this injustice is Hideyoshi's confidant Ishida Matsunari.Kato Kiyomasa and other six daimyos even planned to set up battles in Osaka and Fushimi immediately after returning to China, so as to kill Sancheng.Needless to say, the Ishida faction also took precautions.For this reason, there was an uproar in Osaka and Fushimi Castle. "We're going to fight a big battle!"

Among the citizens of Osaka and Fushimi, many impatient people began to evacuate their wealth. There are legends in the streets and alleys: "I heard that the backstage of Master Ishida, Shaofu Jibu, is Yodohime!" Yodohime herself was a person without any official position or power, but because she had her son Hideyori on her lap, the world began to have the impression that she was a powerful figure.Even Kato Kiyomasa believed the rumors of the market.He believes: "We have to rely on the help of the Beijing Political Institute." He ran to the Beizheng Office, which is now a nun, and asked for asylum.The Beizheng Institute thought that what he said was justified, and specially asked the chief elder Ieyasu to protect them, and obtained Ieyasu's consent in private.Ieyasu was secretly happy about this dispute within the Toyotomi family, thinking it was a godsend.Rather, he would like to fan it secretly.

During this period, Dian Ji acted like an idiot, knowing nothing. "I heard that there seems to be some discord among the big names." After a long time, that is, before and after Ishida Mitsunari was dismissed from the post by Ieyasu, left Osaka, and pretended to live in seclusion in Omi Sawa Yamashiro, her base, she knew about it.She had only such a superficial understanding of the current situation.Even Ishida Mitsunari, who is said to be closely related to her in the world, she has not had much contact with, and has neither interest nor concern for him.It's just that the maid Ozangqing told her: "It is said that the Minister of Edo seems to want to seize the world of Mr. Hideyori."

After hearing this, she didn't show much concern, and just said: "It must not happen!" Dianji had no other knowledge about this fat man in his fifties named Writer Kang, except that he thought he was gentle in appearance.She naturally didn't believe it could be true.What's more, her level of understanding of things made her feel that such a thing was impossible.How can Ieyasu, who is only the lord of the eight states in the Kanto, dare to confront the Toyotomi family who owns the princes of the world? However, when the aforementioned Ishida Mitsunari who retired to the Sawa Mountains quietly left the base area and secretly came to the government office of Osaka City, this Yodohime, who always thought she was safe and secure, finally found that she was in the middle of a crisis. In the midst of an unpredictable future.Sancheng sat face to face with Dianji, and said to her, "I want to report a conspiracy in the inner palace to you."

Sancheng talked eloquently to Yodohime. With his rich knowledge of the political situation and a bit too hard-edged theory, he described how Ieyasu was trying to usurp the power of the Toyotomi family by ingenious means. "This man can really talk!" Dianji listened to him, sometimes feeling tired, and sometimes not understanding what he meant.Ishida Mitsunari doesn't know how to speak to women, he lacks the talent in this area. Yodohime finally interrupted him impatiently, and interjected, "There are some profound truths that I can't understand either. From your point of view, what will happen to His Highness (Hideyori) in the future?"

Ishida Mitsunari was stunned for a moment, unable to speak for a while.I saw him tilting his head sideways, pondering for a while.He felt that since this was the case, there was no other way but to use intimidation tactics. "I don't know if I should say this now, but in my opinion, His Highness Zhong Nayan will probably end up in the same fate as that Lord Hideji one day." Dianji said, "Nonsense!" From her point of view, Xiuci was punished like that because of his treason. Where did His Highness Xiulai commit any crimes? Sancheng thought to himself: "How ignorant this is!"

Surprisingly, this Yodohime was totally unaware that Hideji was executed for political reasons only, not because of his moral crimes.Sancheng then talked about another future. "Otherwise, it is possible to become a person like Nagon in Gifu." Yodohime wondered, "Who is Nayan in Gifu?" She didn't understand what Sancheng's words meant, so she beckoned the female officer of Dazangqing to come to her and asked her to explain in her ear. "Gifu Nagon" refers to the three Nagon Oda Hidenobu.Hidenobu is Nobunaga's grandson and the legal heir of the Oda family.From Hideyoshi, he sealed off the territory of Gifu Castle 133,000 stone, the castle where the Oda family had lived since the previous generations.This man was around twenty years old, with good features, not only looks like his grandfather, but also likes to wear silk and satin, pays attention to luxury, and shows off his temperament like his grandfather, but he has not inherited his grandfather's talents at all, he is a mediocre man A mediocre young man whose only advantage is his cheerful personality.

Among the feudal lords, some privately commented: "The world originally belonged to Lord Nayan in Gifu." However, after Hideyoshi took care of the funeral of the original owner Nobunaga, he did not let this Oda Hidenobu inherit the hegemony of the Oda family with six million stones.He himself cleverly led the daimyo under the Oda family, pacified the enemies from all sides, and expanded his territory to more than ten million stones.At this time, please invite the imperial court, and the imperial court will appoint Guan Bai.After becoming Guanbai, his status was higher than that of the Oda family.Moreover, the so-called Guanbai is the highest position among ministers, and he replaces the emperor in charge of Japan's politics.That being the case, then, as a matter of course, the descendants of the original master Nobunaga had to become subjects under the rule of Hideyoshi in the face of the authority of the suzerain emperor of Japan.According to this theory, Hideyoshi gradually annexed the political power of the Oda family like the sun melting ice and snow without the world's awareness, and completely included the descendants of the Oda family under his command, making them his own. The names of his subordinates.Moreover, it is said that this Oda Hidenobu actually admired Hideyoshi very much, as if he regarded him as his own biological father. All in all, the Oda family is just a big name of the Toyotomi family. Dianji scolded angrily: "Nonsense!" Even looking up from the lower seat where Sancheng was, one could see her face pale with anger and her upper body trembling violently.After a while, the nurse Da Zangqing knelt down a few steps towards Dianji, took her hand as if treating a little girl, and gently pressed her hand in the middle with his own to warm her.Hideyori has become a famous name, how can this be allowed? Dian Ji blurted out, "You can send troops to attack him!" She said that she was going to conquer the heinous inner palace.Thirty percent knelt down on the ground.All he needs is this sentence.All that remains is to draft a military order with Hideyori's seal on it, issue a mobilization order to the daimyos of the Quartet, and let them gather in Osaka. This dispute finally developed into a great turmoil sweeping the world. On September 15th in the fifth year of Qingcho (1600), an army composed of daimyo from all over the country, who became the mastermind, marched to Sekigahara in Mino and confronted the army led by Ieyasu. The two sides fought fiercely for about five hours. . However, Mitsunari Ishida was defeated. After this war, the situation in the world has undergone fundamental changes.From the battlefield, Ieyasu led the army to maintain a fighting posture and marched westward, passed through the Omi River, entered the capital, and then went down to Osaka, and lived in the Nishinomaru Small Tenshou Pavilion in Osaka City, which he used as a temporary government office.Hideyori lived in the castle tower of Honmaru. Ieyasu went to visit. As the chief elder of Toyotomi's family, he reported to Hideyori: "My minister has successfully wiped out the rebels in the Sekigahara area of ​​Mino." Hideyori was seated at the top of the hall accompanied by her nurse.He raised his fair-skinned and round face slightly, and listened to the fat old man's report to him. As soon as Ieyasu finished speaking, Hideyori nodded and said, "Thanks for your hard work." He expressed his condolences to Ieyasu. Before the interview, Veteran Katagiri Kemoto taught Hideyori in advance what to say after the arrival of the inner court.Hideyori is too young to understand what is ending and what is beginning now. However, things have long since changed.After Ieyasu moved into Nishinomaru in Osaka Castle, he stayed there all the time. As the head of the Toyotomi family and the protector of Hideyori, he was busy with such work all day long: confiscating or cutting down those who resisted himself. The territories of the defeated daimyos in the Sekigahara War were divided among the daimyos who participated in their side.During this period, all the daimyos of the Toyotomi family went to pay homage to Ieyasu Nishinomaru, just as they had done to Hideyoshi in the past.Even ministers, nobles, wealthy businessmen, monks and others who lived in the capital and Sakai City came from afar to congratulate.The bustling scene can't be compared with Honmaru where Hideyori's mother and son live. When Ieyasu finished his meritorious deeds reward work in Nishinomaru of Osaka Castle where he lived, and completely transformed the configuration of daimyo in the Hideyoshi era into a configuration centered on Ieyasu, even though he lived in Osaka Castle with Hideyori, He no longer visited Hideyori in Honmaru to pay his respects. "Today's Inner Palace is no longer what it used to be, it's the people in charge of the world." Ieyasu tried every means to let all the servants of the Toyotomi family, including the head waiter of the dining room, know this fact.Not long after, when Ieyasu left Osaka for his base in Edo, he only sent an agent to inform Hideyori, but he himself did not even say goodbye. The people around Dianji, especially the female official of Dazangqing, couldn't help but blame Ieyasu for turning his face and denying others, but her voice was so small that she was afraid of being heard by other maids, so she just murmured in Dianji's ear: " What kind of talk is this!" In short, after the Battle of Sekigahara, Ieyasu has taken all the daimyos that belonged to the Toyotomi family into his own hands.The armed forces of the Toyotomi family were wiped out. At first, Yodohime was quite slow to react to losing in the battle of Sekigahara.She simply interpreted this as the decline of the power of Mitsunari Ishida and his henchmen alone.In this regard, I am afraid it is also related to Ieyasu's trick. Immediately after Ieyasu won the victory in Sekigahara, he sent someone to rush to Osaka, saying: "The Sekigahara incident was provoked by Jibu Shaosuke Ishida Sannai to realize his personal ambitions. It has nothing to do with Hideyori's mother and son. This I am very aware of the situation, and for this reason, I do not blame them." He used these words to prevent Osaka Castle from falling into chaos needlessly.This also gave Dian Ji and the others a reassurance. Yodohime said: "Lord Tokugawa will not treat us badly. As long as we keep silent, it seems that nothing will happen." The female official of the Minister of Finance also believed so.However, as soon as Ieyasu entered Osaka Castle, he immediately changed his attitude and suddenly threatened. He borrowed other people's mouths to spread the following words in Osaka City: "The Sekigahara incident does not seem to be planned arbitrarily by Jibu Shaosuke Ishida Mitsunari alone. If in the course of future investigations, it is found If they collude, then any noble person will not be forgiven." The scope of "any honorable person" naturally includes Hideyori's mother and son.This made Dian Ji frightened.She secretly worried that she would be killed alive by the three rivers like Hideji and his wives, concubines and children in the past.From then on, Yodohime was afraid of offending Ieyasu, so she no longer allowed the maids around her to make any criticism of Ieyasu. Ieyasu was very satisfied: "Those women in Osaka City don't even dare to show their breath now." Jiakang must have thought so: "This way, things will be easier to handle." While Yodohime and the others were shrinking their necks and being cautious, he carried out the work of rewarding meritorious deeds in the Nishinomaru of Osaka Castle.In the process, he took advantage of the momentum and cut off more than half of the Toyotomi family's territory. Among the legacy left by the late Hideyoshi, after being cut down, there is only one Osaka Castle and the three kingdoms of Settsu, Hanoi, and Izumi (now Osaka Prefecture), totaling 657,400 shi.It can be said that Hideyori has fallen to the status of a daimyo - and the area of ​​the fief is smaller than that of the Maeda family in Kaga. However, Yodohime and the others didn't notice. "Things seem a little strange!" Ieyasu had already left for Edo when the maids around Yodohime started shouting after hearing people's comments.They were so careless. Before this, they didn't know that there was only so little territory left in the Toyotomi family's territory. "This is impossible!" Dian Ji still refused to believe it.However, just to be on the safe side, she called Katagiri Kasumi.Qiyuan is from Omi, who was raised and raised by Hideyoshi from an early age. From the time Hideyoshi was promoted to the city lord of Omi Nagabin Castle, he served as a small orderly by Hideyoshi's side.In the battle of Jianzhidake, he fought bravely with several small orderlies including Kato Kiyomasa and Fukushima Masanori, broke through the enemy's position, and made great contributions.This is the story of the so-called seven spears breaking the enemy's formation.Later, he was not highly regarded by Hideyoshi like Qingzheng and Zhengzheng, and he failed to become a daimyo.The reason is probably because, in Hideyoshi's view, Kagen neither knows how to use military strategies nor political strategies, so his talents are mediocre, and his only advantage is honesty.However, in Hideyoshi's later years, on the one hand, because he was more and more concerned about Hideyori's future, he began to pay more attention to the role of the retainer Kaemoto, who was raised by himself, and gave him more than 10,000 stone fiefdoms.In this way, despite his humble status, Qi Yuan finally became a big name.Hideyoshi also gave him "the qualification to visit Hideyoshi at any time."However, the reason why Hideyoshi did not give him a greater position is probably because Maeda Toshiie had already been appointed as Hideyori's Taifu, and Tokugawa Ieyasu was appointed to replace Hideyori in charge of government affairs.However, Maeda Toshiie had died of illness before the Sekigahara Battle, and Ieyasu became a figure who commanded the world after Sekigahara as mentioned above.All in all, the Toyotomi family is no longer old. Ieyasu came to Osaka after winning the battle of Guanyuan. As soon as he entered the city, he called Qiyuan and said to Qiyuan: "Please help His Highness Xiu Lai, Lord Dongshizheng (referring to Qiyuan)!" Ieyasu appointed him as Hideyori's Taifu and the elder of the Toyotomi family. At the same time, he cut off a piece of land from the Toyotomi family's direct-controlled territory and gave it to Qiyuan, thus increasing his fiefdom to eighteen thousand stones.However, such a personnel arrangement was not discussed with Dianji at all in advance.To Yodohime, Katagiri Kamoto was originally a very unfamiliar person, almost an outsider.Besides, Yuan was the elder appointed by Ieyasu, and just because of this, he always felt that there was a ghost in it, so naturally he couldn't get close to him.But don't worry about it.Now there is no other way but to ask this Qi Yuan. Dian Ji asked straight to the point: "Dong Shizheng, how many stones are there in His Highness Xiu Lai's territory?" "Ah, that..." Qie Yuan knelt down on the ground, trying to keep his head down on the mat as much as possible so that no one could see his panic-stricken embarrassment.While pressing his face tightly against the mat, he secretly thought about countermeasures.Of course, Ieyasu had notified him about this matter.Not only that, but even the title deeds and accounts of the newly stipulated territory are in his hands.It's just that he has been hesitating whether he should tell this fact to Dian Ji's mother and son.If they knew about this situation, this arrogant and ignorant woman might lose her mind and cause some trouble. Qie Yuan thought, "Maybe they won't notice." He despised them, thinking they would not know.Fortunately, Hideyori was young, and Yodohime's activities were limited to the small world of Honmaru in Osaka Castle. There was no need to know about the new situation of Toyotomi's family, and even if he knew, he would be helpless. Qi Yuan kept thinking: "Let them still have the dream of last night, thinking that Xiu Lai is still a person in charge of the world, it's not bad." This is not so much his thick-skinned, self-assessment, as it is a manifestation of his weakness and cowardice.However, now this Dian Ji seems to know the truth. Qi Yuan hesitated to speak several times, and finally hesitantly stated the helpless fact that there are only 657,400 stone fiefdoms left. When Dian Ji heard this, she first yelled, but she didn't know whether it was shock or anger, and Qi Yuan, who was kneeling on the mat, didn't understand what it meant.But the next sentence sounds very harsh to Qi Yuan. "I'll ask you on behalf of His Highness Hideyori, are you Ieyasu's servant or the Toyotomi family's servant?" According to Yodohime, it was Kaemoto who sold all of Toyotomi's family to Ieyasu.If it weren't for such a serious situation-Hideyori's status has plummeted, and he has fallen into a big name at some point, this unbelievably serious situation, shouldn't we have discussed it with us a long time ago? "However," at this moment, Qi Yuan managed to squeeze out a few words from between his teeth. "This is the result of the war. Due to the defeat in the last battle of Sekigahara, Ishida Mitsunari was tied up and paraded through the streets of Osaka Castle, and his head was chopped off. The monk Huiqiong of Anguo Temple and the head of Konishi also fell. If this is the case, then the crime of His Highness Xiu Lai who issued the military order, forgive the villain, then naturally..." When he got to this point, Dian Ji interrupted him and said, "Are you trying to scare me?" Qi Yuan hurriedly replied, "I dare not." But after a while he calmed down again and changed his statement.The pale, short man said: "This is for your Highness's food expenses." "This" refers to more than 650,000 stone fiefdoms. "Food expenses?" "If it's inappropriate to say that, then it can also be considered as the cost of raising His Royal Highness Hideyori." "Oh!" Dian Ji seemed to be attracted by his words, and couldn't help moving her knees forward, "Really?" Qi Yuanying said in unison: "Yes." The voice was so low that it seemed to be speaking to himself.If the 650,000 stone fiefdom is interpreted as a sum of money needed by Xiu Lai to raise an adult, then this is a huge sum of money that is more than enough. "The Neifu once said," Qi Yuan explained, "if this young lord is allowed to have such a large territory directly under his control as before, then there will be a second or even a third Zhibu Shao. In this way , will not only cause chaos in the world, but will eventually endanger the interests of the Toyotomi family. In this regard, after careful consideration, the inner court reluctantly reduced the lord's territory to 650,000 shi. This is also for the sake of the Toyotomi family. .” "is that true?" "Why does the little one want to tell lies?" "According to what you said, the Minister of Uchihashi once said that when His Highness Hideyori grows up, he will return the world to His Highness Hideyori." "That's what it means." "Is that true?" "Yes, that's what happened." Qi Yuan's response became more and more ambiguous, but there was a noisy discussion between Dian Ji and her maids, and some people even cheered happily.However, it was Chiuyuan himself who least believed in Chiuyuan's promise among the people present. Regarding this matter, he thought in his heart: "The inner palace will never..." However, Qi Yuan's nonsense lies were not created by himself.He is not so witty, able to adapt to the situation, and fabricate the above section "conceived by the inner court" to temporarily rule the world on the spot.That's what Ieyasu's military adviser Sado Moronta Masanobu heard. Honda Zhengxin dictated to him: "The one named Dian is a woman after all, so I have to forgive her, please tell her that." At that time, Qi Yuan asked seriously: "You must be serious about the temporary management you just said." When he said this, Qiyuan kept staring into Zhengxin's eyes.Zhengxin was stunned for a moment, then immediately laughed out loud. "Hey, I'm talking about you, why are you always like this. What are you talking about, Lord Zhenghou of Dongshi?" While saying this, Honda Masanobu continued to laugh loudly.Did Honda laugh like that, "Don't ask any more, of course it's the true meaning of the inner court", or "Aren't you and I accomplices in carrying out this plan? Why are you bringing up such a strange thing now?" problem, but it’s not easy to handle”?With Qi Yuan's intelligence, it was really hard to tell, and he didn't dare to ask any more.It is probably Ieyasu's strategy to send such a man with low intelligence to be the head of the Toyotomi family. However, even such a Qiyuan couldn't help but feel deplorable and pitiful seeing Dianji and the maids around her so ignorant.It seemed that they simply couldn't figure out what to believe and what to doubt. To give an example: Ieyasu has completely controlled the two foreign trade seaports of Sakai City and Hakata in the territory directly under the Toyotomi family.The gold and silver of the trade duty received by these two great ports was enormous.In the past, this income flowed into the treasury of the Toyotomi family.But now, all of them have flowed to Edo.If Ieyasu intends to return the power to the Toyotomi family after Hideyori grows up, then the gold and silver should be stored in the gold and silver vault of Osaka Castle for future use by Hideyori.Even from such a simple and easy-to-understand matter, we can see what Ieyasu's true meaning is.It stands to reason that Dian Ji and her maids should understand these things.