Chapter 21 Ninth story Yodohime and her son-5

To the world, Toyotomi Hideyori is an intangible, almost shadow-like existence.His appearance, aptitude and personality are unknown to anyone of his contemporaries except for a few people around him such as his mother and maids. Even Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was planning to kill him, was no exception. "What does that person look like now?" Whenever someone came from Osaka, he made sure to ask such a question, but could only hear a few superficial and general answers. "Smart, or stupid?" All Ieyasu wanted to inquire about was this matter.However, it was inconvenient for him to ask straight to the point, so he had to rely on the few materials to make speculations for the time being.If it is a clever child, then you have to find a way to kill him early, if it is a fool - you have to kill him, but you can take a long-term plan and think slowly.

The last time Ieyasu saw Hideyori was on February 4th, Keicho 8, when Hideyori was exactly ten years old.Three years have passed since the Battle of Sekigahara, and Ieyasu has in fact become the ruler of Japan, but he has not yet become a general.That time he came to Osaka in person and sent Hideyori a New Year's gift as a retainer. Jiayasu felt in his heart: "This is an ordinary, not outstanding child." He secretly let go of his heart.To put it bluntly, it should be called stupid.A fair face with a slightly drooping rosy lower lip.Not only that, even though he was ten years old, he still didn't have the majesty when he was in an audience. He wanted to lean his body on the nurse's lap at every turn, and his body was swaying from time to time.

This was Ieyasu's last visit. In this month of the year, he became the general who conquered the barbarians, and he ascended to the throne of power worthy of the name.Then, in July of that year, Ieyasu sent his six-year-old granddaughter Yuqian to Osaka to marry Hideyori as his wife.Ieyasu was not eager to consummate Chihime's marriage with Hideyori.This is the last will dictated by the late Xiu Shi when he was dying.If he does not abide by this will, then his subordinates such as Kato Kiyomasa and Fukushima Masanori who have been favored by Hideyoshi in the past may be shaken.For Ieyasu, the purpose of marrying the boy Hideyori and the virgin Yusen was just to keep the peace of the newly established Tokugawa regime, and at the same time to stabilize the above-mentioned collateral vassals.

In March of the following year, Ieyasu was in Fushimi.Now that he has become the General Who Conquers Yi, he no longer goes to Osaka to pay New Year's greetings according to the regulations. "Tell them to come to my place to pay New Year's greetings!" He released such an air against the Toyotomi family.From Ieyasu's point of view, he wanted to use this action to let his master Hideyori know what kind of character he is now, no matter what happened in the past. Needless to say, Osaka was surprised.It is true that after the Battle of Sekigahara, the territory of the Toyotomi family has been reduced to only 700,000 shi, which is equivalent to the title of a daimyo.However, the fact that Ieyasu is a servant of the Toyotomi family has not changed. He once submitted a letter of allegiance written on Kumano oath paper to "support His Highness Hideyori" to the old lord Hideyoshi.This oath is still valid today.That being the case, why did Hideyori have to go to Fushimi to pay homage to Ieyasu?Whether there are examples of masters paying homage to their servants in foreign countries, let alone talk about it, there is absolutely no such example in Japan.

Dian Ji faced Katagiri Katamoto, the old family member, and asked furiously, "Isn't that so?" She also said, that's not going to work, I have to ask Master Tokugawa to come here, please go and tell him so. The older maids around Dian Ji also said in unison: "Madam is right!" After hearing this, Qi Yuan thought to himself, "How ignorant and ignorant this is!" He almost despaired of them.First of all, these women don't understand what politics is. "Yes, the general reasoning is exactly as you said, madam, but..." Qi Yuan was so anxious that he was sweating profusely, so he had to try his best to explain to them.He broke his lips and repeatedly explained the fact to them: "Although the theory is so, it doesn't work in practice." However, the women couldn't understand it in the end.In the end, the matter was settled in this way: this Katagiri Kazmoto acted as the envoy, in the form of Hideyori's representative, went to Fushimi Castle to pay New Year's greetings to Ieyasu.

Yodohime agreed without thinking, "If you go instead of Hideyori, that's fine." This incident also shows that although Dian Ji said "reason, reason", she is actually completely unreasonable.Since Toyotomi's family's decency must be taken care of, even sending a representative there would be a disgrace to Hideyori.But from Yodohime's point of view, it was only because she was too worried about Hideyori's safety that she didn't want to ask Hideyori to leave Osaka Castle and go to Fushimi.The truth is nothing more than that.Yodohime, like so many other mothers, thought Hideyori was a piece of her body that had fallen from her body.It seems that her thoughts about Hideyoshi cannot go beyond this range.

Qiyuan boarded Fushimi City to pay homage to Jiakang and congratulate the New Year. Ieyasu knew the inside story of this matter, but he still deliberately asked, "How is His Highness Hiderai?" Qi Yuan also casually said: "I am sincerely and sincerely reporting to the master that His Highness Xiu Lai has caught a cold." Ieyasu nodded lightly and said, "This is really worrying. However, Xiu Lai's cold should come next year." Alright, I hope to see him in Kyoto next year." He seemed to mean that no matter what, he must be invited to Beijing next year. Qi Yuan replied helplessly, "I will definitely come next year."

After hearing this, Ieyasu nodded deeply as if he had fulfilled his promise. The second year - the tenth year of Qingchang.In April of this year, Ieyasu handed over the position of the general who conquered barbarians to his son Hidetada, which showed that he had no intention of returning the power to Hideyori, and the world should be inherited by his Tokugawa family.Xiuzhong came to the capital from Edo and entered the palace to salute the emperor.The princes from all over the world gathered in the capital to congratulate Ieyasu and Xiuzhong.However, only the right minister, Toyotomi Hideyori, neither went to Beijing nor congratulated the Tokugawa father and son.Ieyasu became anxious.He had to let Hideyori come to him once to show the world that even the Toyotomi family had surrendered to him, and at the same time let the Toyotomi family recognize this new relationship.Ieyasu mobilized Beizhengsuo, the widow of Hideyoshi who lived in the capital, and asked her to send someone to Osaka.Beizhengsuo is like a mother to Hideyori.In this sense, she should be the most authoritative person, but Dian Ji, like a closed shell, turned a deaf ear to the advice of the Beizheng Office.

In the second year, that is, the eleventh year of Qingchang, the two sides still did not meet.In February of the third year, Xiu Lai got smallpox.There was a period when it was even said that his life was in danger. Ieyasu was in Edo at that time, and when he heard the news, he said to himself more than once: "Hideyori is going to die, Hideyori is going to die!" If Xiu Lai died, it would be good for the world.If he is alive, Ieyasu will have to launch a war in a few days, attack and wipe them out, and eradicate the evil that threatens his descendants. One of Ieyasu's elderly military advisers, Honda Masanobu, said: "I pray that that one dies sooner."

Zhengxin advocated that Toyotomi's house should be cleaned up as soon as possible.In the eighth year of Qingchang, when Hideyori refused to go to Beijing, he suggested that Ieyasu use this incident as an excuse to go to war as much as possible.But Ieyasu was afraid of the impact on the world.What would the world think if Hideyoshi was killed before the new soil in Hideyoshi's cemetery was dry?Have to wait a little longer.In addition, although the daimyos in West Japan have succumbed to the Tokugawa family, their sincerity is still unknown.In particular, Kato Kiyomasa and Fukushima Masanori, who Hideyoshi grew up with, even privately sent envoys to Hideyoshi to pay their respects.

Especially Masanori Fukushima, legend has it that he once said to Hideyori or Yodohime in private: "Your Highness, please wait for the opportunity." The so-called timing is to tell Hideyori to wait for the timing of Ieyasu's old age and death.I heard Fukushima said that at that time, he will mobilize the princes who have been favored by the Toyotomi family in the past to try to take the power from Edo and hand it over to Osaka.According to him, when Ieyasu was alive, the princes from all over the world were intimidated by Ieyasu's power and dared not act.Besides, both himself and Qingzheng have received Ieyasu's favor, and he doesn't want to meet Ieyasu Heimaru because of this incident.But when it comes to Xiuzhong's generation, there is no need to take care of sensibilities. It is said that Zhengzheng used these words to warn Dianji and the people around her not to act rashly.All this information reached Ieyasu's ears.Regardless of how true or false the information is, it is possible for a cannon like Fukushima Masamori to say these words.What's more, the other daimyos in the collateral line seem to have more or less similar ideas.All in all, the problem is the age of Ieyasu and Hideyori.Ieyasu is aging year by year, but Hideyori is growing up year by year. Masanobu said: "If His Highness Hideyori unexpectedly died of smallpox, then a stone in my heart will fall to the ground, and I'm afraid it will be Kato and Fukushima instead." Kato and Fukushima were trained by Hideyoshi, and at the same time they stood by Ieyasu in the Battle of Sekigahara.Fukushima served as the vanguard on the main battlefield, while Kato restrained Konishi Yukiochi and Shimadzu of the Western Army in Kyushu. Both of them made great contributions to Tokugawa Ieyasu's establishment of the world.However, both of them are people who both love deeply and hate deeply.Because of such a character, they are worried about the decline of the power of the Toyotomi family.As for Hideyori, he always wanted to protect at least one of his lives within the scope of not affecting his own status.Even so, if Hideyori died naturally from smallpox, the above-mentioned feelings would be relieved, and there would be no need to take any risks.What Zhengxin said above is precisely the subtlety of this matter. Unfortunately for Ieyasu, however, Hideyori escaped danger and survived.Ieyasu was disappointed.However, the information that came during this period made him feel relieved.It turned out that when Xiulai was seriously ill and his life and death were uncertain, none of the famous people in the world came to visit her.The vassals were so afraid of Ieyasu, and they rated the stability and permanence of the Tokugawa regime so highly, that even Ieyasu himself was quite surprised. By the way, this information was sent from the inner palace of Osaka Castle.The list of sources of information is simply too numerous to enumerate.Among the seven generals who escorted Hideyori, two (Aoki Kazuju, Ito Tango) were known as Ieyasu.In addition, in the past, Hideyoshi's disciple, Oda Changzhen (Nobunaga's second younger brother), was an uncle to Yodohime.He lived in Osaka City for the elderly, but after Hideyoshi's death, he thought about the Kanto side in everything.The above-mentioned people continued to send information to Ieyasu. Hideyori's recovery made Ieyasu and those around him secretly determined that there seemed to be no other way to wipe the young man off the face of the earth than drastic measures, political and military. Both Ieyasu and the military adviser Honda Masanobu knew that the actual person in power in Osaka Castle was Yodohime's nanny—a woman named Da Zangqing.After tortuous arrangements, Zhengxin cleverly fabricated a rumor to frighten the Minister of Tibet without making people aware that the Kanto side ordered people to do it.Rumors say that if the shrine and Buddhist pavilion are not built now, His Highness Hideyori will die.Xiu Lai suffered from smallpox this time because of the manifestation of gods and Buddhas.When Hideyoshi was alive, he fought countless battles and killed countless people in his life.The slain ghosts will haunt Hideyoshi to torment His Royal Highness.There are many shrines and Buddhist pavilions in the world that are dilapidated and collapsed. If they can be repaired, then these evil spirits will naturally disperse.The female officer of Dazangqing told Dianji exactly what others told her.When Dian Ji heard this, she shuddered. The aristocratic woman Chacha, also known as Yodohime or Dayuyuan woman, in the name of her son Hideyori, left behind any achievements on this land, then at best, she rebuilt many shrines, It's just a temple.Her fanatical investment in religion began at this time.Kitano Shrine in the capital, Taisha in Izumo, Kunshamondo in Kurama, Yuda Hachimangu Shrine in Hanoi, the south gate of Toji Temple in the capital, the central hall in Yokogawa, Sanjo, Tankain Temple in Sanjo, Katsuo Temple in Settsu, and Shishi Temple in Osaka. Tennoji Temple, Sanboin Niomon Gate in Daigo, Hodo Hall of Nanzenji Temple in Beijing, Ishikimizu Hachimangu Shrine in Yamashiro, Sakyokokun Shrine in Osaka, Gokagedo, Godaido, Nyoirindo, Romon, etc. in Kamidaigo, etc. .It is so violent that it can be said that it has spread throughout the entire Kinki and its surrounding areas. Among the many famous mountains and treasures in this area, it is almost difficult to find a plaque that does not say "established by the right minister Hideyori" or "built by the right minister Hideyori" Or leave a record about it.Building and repairing even one temple or shrine cost huge sums of money.The amount of money that Yodohime and the others spend on these temples and shrines is so huge that it will frighten people.Yodohime prayed so deeply for Hideyori's future that even Masanobu Honda in Kanto couldn't help being shocked. It is said that Zhengxin once said in amazement: "Oh, it seems that this kind of affection does not distinguish between high and low. No matter how you say it, the legacy left by the late His Highness Taihe is really scary!" A financier like Hideyoshi is probably rare.When Hideyoshi was in power, the territory directly under the Toyotomi family was only about two million shi.But what he rewarded Ieyasu was more than two and a half million stones from the Kanto.If you look at the size of the fief, there are more Ieyasu who are subordinates of the Toyotomi family than Hideyoshi.However, Hideyoshi's thinking has long gone beyond the economic thinking centered on Migu.He excavated Sado's Jinshan and other mines, and monopolized the interests of the mining industry. At the same time, he vigorously developed the foreign trade of the Sakai area and Hakata Bay, and collected taxes from it.In addition, Otsu, the transportation hub of Lake Biwa, was built into a city to develop domestic trade and obtain profits from it.All the expenditures of the Toyotomi regime and the Toyotomi family are maintained by the income from these areas.As a result, a large amount of gold and silver was stored in Osaka Castle, which was inherited by Hideyori. Honda Masanobu often said: "There is nothing to be afraid of that stupid woman and child in Osaka, but..." In fact, since the Edo regime has firmly grasped the princes from all walks of life, no matter how hard Hideyori struggles, the sky will not fall.There are only two things that make people worry.One is whether the daimyo of West Japan will carry out Hideyori to realize their ambitions, and the other is the gold and silver owned by Toyotomi's furniture.When Hideyoshi was alive, he minted gold coins and established an economic system for currency circulation. Therefore, even if there is no Migu, as long as you have gold and silver in your hands, it is not impossible to recruit 100,000 ronin at once.In order to reduce the amount of gold and silver owned by Toyotomi's family, Masanobu cleverly made arrangements and fabricated a story about resentful souls to frighten Yodohime and her wet nurse, Mistress Dazangqing.Fortunately, they didn't know that this was a trick used by the Kanto side, so they were fooled.However, just letting them build temples and shrines, it seems that Hideyoshi's legacy will not be easily reduced, just like the drinking horse pond, the water will not dry up. Ieyasu said to Zhengxin: "How about letting them rebuild the Great Buddha in the capital?" "Ah, that's great!" Zhengxin exclaimed, "This is really a clever strategy." The big Buddha in the capital mentioned refers to the one in Fangguang Temple in Dongshan, which was originally built by Hideyoshi.Hideyoshi had intended to build a gigantic Buddha statue, much larger than the bronze Buddha of Nara, and in fact he did.It's just that the smelting and casting technology of that dynasty was greatly regressed compared with the previous generation. As a result, the gold and bronze Buddha statue was not made, but only a large wooden structure and plaster-coated Buddha.The main hall of Fangguang Temple where the Buddha is placed is twenty feet high, and the Buddha is sixteen feet high.In order to build this giant Buddha, it took two thousand days and a total of ten million labors.However, this great Buddha built by Hideyoshi collapsed in a major earthquake in the Fushimi and Kyoto areas that occurred in the first year of Keicho (1596), and it no longer exists today. Ieyasu called Katagiri Katagiri, the old family member of the Toyotomi family, to him, and said to him personally: "Presumably His Highness Taihe will also feel deeply regretful under Jiuquan. You should really respect his will!" Qi Yuan was grateful for hearing this, and thanked him again and again.After that, he hurried back to Osaka Castle day and night, and reported what Ieyasu had said to Hideyori and Yodohime.Although they were a little unbelievable, they all jumped with joy.For example, the female officer of the Minister of Finance, who was always by her side, was so happy that she was going crazy.She listened to Qi Yuan's words, kept nodding, and soon turned her knees to Dianji's side, and said: "This is the best thing to do. I'm afraid His Royal Highness Taihe is in the dark. Blessings to protect and protect. Please proceed with the construction of the Great Buddha as soon as possible." When she said these words, she was so excited that she was trembling all the time. Dian Ji was also trembling with excitement.The reason why she is so happy is because from this incident, Ieyasu is not a cruel person. "Respect the will of the late Taihe Highness" came from Ieyasu's mouth. Judging from the old man's consistent attitude after the Sekigahara Battle, it is a bit unimaginable.In order to pray for Xiu Lai's prosperity and wealth, and his good fortune, he spent countless gold and silver in front of the gods and Buddhas. It seems that he has finally been rewarded. It must be that God is gradually softening Ieyasu's hard heart.Yodohime finally decided to inherit Hideyoshi's unfinished business, and immediately set about building a golden and bronze Buddha.Due to the limitation of technical level, although only a slightly smaller than the original plan can be built, it is still a majestic golden and bronze Buddha statue with a height of six feet and three feet. A project like the construction of the Great Buddha is a national undertaking.This can also be understood from the fact that Emperor Shomu built the Great Buddha at Todai-ji Temple in Nara in ancient times.Although Hideyoshi left behind a large amount of gold and silver treasures, this was not within the reach of a famous family like the Toyotomi family with a territory of only about 700,000 koku.But Dian Ji did it.Soon, the negligence of the casting workers of the Buddha statue caused a fire, and the half of the Buddha that had been cast with so much pains was also burned, and the hall was reduced to ashes. However, Dian Ji and her nanny Da Zangqing were not discouraged.They plan to regroup and carry out the casting project of the Buddha and the construction project of the main hall.It's just that the treasury and silver treasury of the Toyotomi family, which was so rich in the past, are now beginning to bottom out.Helpless, he had to take out the Dafa Ma gold among the gold left by Hideyoshi and melt it.A large Fama gold nugget can be minted into a thousand large gold coins.This was hidden in the castle tower secretly when Hideyoshi was alive, and now it is finally going to be used.But these alone are not enough.For the insufficient part, they want to ask the Edo government for support.Dianji sent someone to her sister, A Jiang, the wife of General Zhengyi Xiuzhong, and asked her to help talk about it in front of Xiuzhong.By the way, Hidetada never heard anything from his father Ieyasu about the plot against Osaka, and he was completely kept in the dark.Xiuzhong immediately sent someone to Ieyasu's office in Junfu to ask him to discuss the matter with his father. Jiakang shouted sharply: "Nonsense!" He looked displeased as if he had swallowed a fly.That ugly face was probably something he had never seen in his life.On the one hand, Xiuzhong, a good old man, is so ignorant, which is really annoying.On the other hand, for Ieyasu, the women of the Toyotomi family, who could only be called enemies, were so incompetent, stupid, and childish that they couldn't help but make people feel uncomfortable.To use an analogy, Ieyasu is a talented and well-known chess master, racking his brains to think of a good move, and his opponents are those useless women of the Toyotomi family. them.They didn't know anything about chess, so they stretched out their hands to Jiakang childishly and ridiculously: "Please give me a chess piece." Ieyasu was silent. He thought to himself: "How should I tell him?" To be honest, my motivation for rebuilding the Great Buddha for the Toyotomi family is not to pray for Taihe's banquet, but to let the Toyotomi family use up all the gold in the treasury.However, although the other party is his own biological son, Xiuzhong who is currently serving as the general of Zhengyi, the secret hidden deep in his heart cannot be revealed to him.However, Xiuzhong, who has become a general, should have seen some signs of these things.Thinking of this, Ieyasu couldn't help getting angry again. Ieyasu curled his lips and said, "You guys are so old, how can you still say such stupid things?" What Ieyasu said to the envoy sent by Xiuzhong at that time is recorded in an ancient book called "Suruga Chronicle": "Xiu Lai is young, and Yodohime is a woman. Needless to say, what they said It doesn’t count. But, you guys are so sophisticated and well-versed in dealing with things. I didn’t expect you to take the words of the boy Hideyori and the woman seriously. You even came to discuss with me, what is this? Originally, the builder of Fangguang Temple The Great Buddha, it was carried out by the late His Highness Taihe out of his personal hobby, not a major event in the world, or a public undertaking. Therefore, this time Xiu Lai rebuilding the Great Buddha is only a private matter of his family. As a general, you should not It was involved." Ieyasu said this to the visitor, and immediately went into the back room. This situation spread to Osaka. Dian Jiding asked: "Did he really say that?" After hearing the above words, she had to resume her earlier view of Ieyasu, which had been changed for a time.Ieyasu's attitude towards Hideyori, she felt, was just as ruthless as ever. Yodohime decided that Toyotomi's family would pay the money, and ordered Katagiri Kemoto to do the same.From Qi Yuan's point of view, of course he already knew that the Toyotomi family's treasury would almost be exhausted in this way.But on the other hand, the old man had already sensed Ieyasu's original intentions, so he didn't want to try his best to dissuade Yodohime from being extravagant.What's more, even if she was persuaded, Dianji was not the kind of person who could listen to opinions.He had no choice but to retreat from the living room, and truthfully told the accountant of the money bank. Construction work on the Great Buddha started again. During this period, all kinds of rumors and gossip spread in the capital, and they spread to Dian Ji's ears.It can be said that it reflects the real situation. There is a rumor that exposes Ieyasu's strategy to the nail, and it is said as if it is serious.The rumor said: "Using the method of building a big Buddha, first let Hideyoshi go down in poverty, and after Hideyoshi spends all his money, slowly capture him and kill him. Ieyasu's idea seems to be That's it." Hearing this, Dianji was startled, frightened and angry, her hands and feet became cold, her whole body trembled, and finally she passed out.At this moment, the maids were all terrified, and ran chaotically and panicked in the corridor in order to rescue Dianji.After all, the female officer of the Great Cangqing was a nanny, and she had been by her side since she was a baby, and knew her well, so she didn't panic.The female officer of the Great Cangqing knew that on such an occasion, she had to say a few words of comfort to her first. "Miss, you don't have to worry at all! Just tell the Maeda family in Kaga. Order him to attack Ieyasu." This is simply a fool's dream. The founder of the Kaga Maeda family was Dai Nagen Maeda Toshiie, who died shortly after Hideyoshi's death.By the way, Maeda Toshiie was originally a friend Hideyoshi had been with since he was young. When Hideyoshi was sick in bed and realized that he was about to die, he repeatedly said to Toshiie in tears: "Toshiie is my best friend. And Another very honest man." He also said that after his death, Xiu Lai's affairs can only be entrusted to your Li family.When Hideyoshi was powerful, he often used Toshiie to fight against Ieyasu.Every time you promote Jiakang, you must also promote Lijia at the same time.Although Ieyasu's official position was always higher than that of the Toshi family, when Hideyoshi usually chatted with people under the lamp at night, he often reversed their order and called them "Dai Na Yan and Nei Fu", and he was sure to use the name of the Toshi family. Say it up front.This is how he painstakingly tried to win Li Jia over emotionally.Hideyoshi appointed this Maeda Toshiie to be Hideyoshi's tutor after his death.Fortunately, Toshika is a loyal person, he did not live up to Hideyoshi's entrustment, after Hideyoshi's death, no one else is more worried about Hideyoshi's future than him.However, Toshiie also died in the second year after Hideyoshi's death. For this reason, today's Maeda family is headed by the eldest son of the Toshi family, Toshicho.And this Toshicho had none of the sentimentality that his father Toshika always had towards the Toyotomi family.Li Chang clearly saw that the future world would be in the hands of Ieyasu.In order to win Ieyasu's trust, he sent his own mother to Edo as a hostage for Ieyasu.In the Battle of Sekigahara, he also joined Ieyasu's side and fought in Hokuriku.After the war he was granted a seal.The Maeda family, known as the Kaga Million Stones, actually had only more than 800,000 stones at the time of Hideyoshi.Because he helped Ieyasu in the Battle of Sekigahara, he was granted the title of Noto Country and other places, and became a veritable name of million stones.After that, Toshinaga didn't even have the courage to look straight at Toyotomi's family.Although the Maeda family is supposed to be Hideyori's Taifu. The female official of the Great Cangqing said to Dianji: "Order him to attack Ieyasu." The "he" here refers to none other than the above-mentioned Maeda Toshinaga.It is true that the Maeda family can be regarded as the largest among the famous names in the world today.In addition, there is Hideyoshi's will, if Toshicho supports Hideyoshi and entangles other princes, then maybe they can form a force that can compete with the Edo regime-although such a thing is like a dream, it is completely not realistic. However, for the lady of the Ministry of Finance, there is no more realistic idea than this idea.It seemed that when the inner hope of wishing so merged with the purely subjective demand that it should be, it created a practical feeling in her head.In this regard, Yodohime is the same.A word of reassurance from the nurse put her at ease.She shouted loudly: "Send someone to Kaga immediately, and leave today. It's time to ask Li Chang to pledge his allegiance." The envoy rushed straight to Kaga. It was the autumn of the fifteenth year of Qingchang (1601).At that time, Maeda Toshinaga was called the Prime Minister of Kaga by the world, and he was nearly fifty years old.If you want to talk about what he thinks about on weekdays, you can sum it up in one sentence. All he thinks about is how to preserve his family business and make it last forever.Because of this, when the secret envoy sent by Yodohime and her son in Osaka appeared in front of this cautious prime minister, it was as if he had suddenly encountered the ghost of the old master, which scared him half to death.If the women in Osaka are still so dependent on the Maeda family, then this will bring disaster to the Maeda family.In the eyes of the Tokugawa family, the existence of the Maeda family was originally an obstacle.If you don't take this into consideration, you might be eaten by the Tokugawa family.It was for this reason that Toshicho sent his mother Hoshunin to Edo as a hostage.Not to mention that, in order to please Ieyasu, the Toshi family begged to send one of his cronies to the Maeda family as the chief elder.This person is Mamorumoto Abe.He said he was the elder of the family, but he actually came to monitor the Maeda family.Li Chang felt that if he was ambiguous and ambiguous on this occasion, it would lead to death.For this reason, he had to treat the women of Osaka without a ruthless attitude and sarcastic language. He replied like this: "Indeed, as you said, we deeply remember His Highness Taihe's great kindness. However, my late father, Toshiya, was ill and stayed in Osaka. I was exhausted and died. In this way, it can be said that His Highness Taihe's favor has been fully repaid by my late father. As for me, I have a different position from my late father. Unlike my late father, I have once again received the favor of Edo Thanks to the new favor bestowed by Edo, I became the prefect of Kaga, Etchu, and Noto. For such a kindness, no matter how much I work for Kanto, I will never repay it. What I think now is How to repay Edo's kindness, and other things, I don't care. In a word, if you want to ask me for help, you are looking for the wrong door. It will add great trouble to me." When Yodohime and Lady Dazangqing received this reply in Osaka, all the people present were silent for a long time, as if they couldn't believe their ears.But soon, like waking up from a big dream, you attacked Li Chang's ingratitude noisily with each other. On the other hand, although Maeda Toshinaga sternly rejected Osaka's visitor, he still couldn't let go.He wondered how much misunderstanding this incident might cause to the Tokugawa family.Li Chang decides to retire.He thought that as long as he, who had served in the court of the Toyotomi regime in the past, was still showing his face, even though the Osaka side failed to get what they wanted, they would probably continue to expect his support.For this matter, he sent an urgent envoy to Junfu, asking him to find out Ieyasu's intentions.Needless to say, Yodohime and Hideyori had also explained to Ieyasu that the above-mentioned secret envoys had been sent. "In my opinion, Prime Minister Kaga's handling is very wise and decisive." Ieyasu praised Toshida greatly.But on the other hand, since Osaka's feelings for Kanto have become so intense, if it is not eradicated early, accidents are likely to happen.To eradicate them, it seems that there must be a convincing reason for the people of the world. Ieyasu pondered: "However, we can't wait for such a reason to arise by itself!" It is Ieyasu's philosophy to wait patiently for the moment before the proper reason arises and matures.However, it is no longer possible to wait any longer.Because he is too old.If he dies now leaving behind the curse of Osaka, then after Ieyasu's death, the world may be taken away by Hideyori, and his life's hard work may be in vain.He thought, since his remaining years are numbered, even if he is a bit reluctant now, he has to try to provoke Osaka, anger Yodohime mother and son, and let Osaka take the lead. In March of the sixteenth year of Qingcho, Ieyasu secretly made such a determination and came to Kyoto from Edo.He took Nijo Castle as a place to stay.Let's say that the two castles are the castle of the Tokugawa family in Kyoto, which was built by Ieyasu a few years ago.This castle has two functions: one is to monitor the imperial court in Kyoto, and the other is to provide accommodation for Ieyasu and Hidetada when they go to Beijing. As soon as Ieyasu arrived in Kyoto, he sent an envoy to Osaka with an order like this: "Please come to Beijing to see me!" The envoy, Oda Yuraku, is equivalent to the old master for both the Tokugawa family and the Toyotomi family.This man is not only suave, but also eloquent.More importantly, he is a relative of Yodohime and Hideyoshi, so it is most appropriate to send such a person as an envoy. "If Hideyori refuses to obey the order and refuses to go to Beijing, he will be punished as disrupting social order, and will be resorted to by force. In addition, please don't forget that this is an ultimatum to Hideyori." Ieyasu told the messenger his determination in such words.Oda Yule was also very nervous when he heard it, and even the citizens of Kyoto were talking about it: Will there be a war tomorrow?After making such a deployment, Ieyasu still couldn't let go.He mobilized other aspects—that is, the power of Ning Ning of Gaotaiyuan.Hideyoshi's widow was originally a meritorious minister of Ieyasu, and she made great contributions to Ieyasu behind the scenes in winning the victory of the Sekigahara Battle.Now, receiving good treatment from Ieyasu, she lives in the green hills of Higashiyama, Kyoto.It would be most appropriate to ask the wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi to come forward to persuade Hideyori and Yodohime. Kodaiin was also very nervous after hearing Ieyasu's decision. She immediately sent someone to call Kato Kiyomasa, who was raised by herself since she was a child, Asano Yukunaga, the head of her natal family, and Katagiri Katagiri, the old family of Osaka Toyotomi's family, and told them Knowing the stakes of this matter, please persuade Dian Ji to let her understand the world and human affairs.According to Kodaiin, since Ieyasu controls the world, Osaka should not put on airs of domineering, but should rely on Ieyasu wholeheartedly.If Ieyasu ordered to hand over Osaka Castle, hand over the castle; if Ieyasu said, please be patient and be a small daimyo with only about 50,000 koku fiefdom, then do so.This is for the sake of the future of the Toyotomi family, for the sake of Hideyori.What's more, Ieyasu ordered Xiu Lai to go to Beijing to pay a visit, so he should obey the order honestly.If Yodohime doesn't understand this truth, then she was the one who ruined Toyotomi's family.She explained this meaning to Qingzheng, Xingchang and Qiyuan.They also have no objection.