Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen

Tokugawa Ieyasu decided to send troops to Osaka in October of the nineteenth year of Qingcho.Before that, he always hoped that there would be another way to clean up the mess.In addition, he has been unable to make a decision, and the biggest reason is still due to his own health. But the war is imminent, but Ieyasu is still not at ease with General Hidetada.He wasn't worried about failure, but he was worried that his morale would be high and he would kill too much.The victory or defeat of a war will always make the root of resentment deeply rooted in the earth. Once the killing is too much, the resentment will be passed down from generation to generation, and it will inevitably lead to misfortune in unexpected places in the future.

In order to explore the way of peace, Ieyasu listened to the Huayan Sutra taught by monks at Todaiji Temple in Nara on the tenth day of September. On the fifteenth day, he specially summoned Nanguangfang Tiankai to talk about Buddhism for two full days. Tianhai said that if peace is to last, people must first be transformed.For this to work, it will take a lot more courage. "I'm not accusing the Imperial Palace of being lazy. However, if you just want to spend your old age in peace, I don't agree. People have neither old age nor afterlife, and some are always in immediate crisis. Only in crisis, life is precious."

Tianhai meant to make a complete end, urging Jiakang to make up his mind and stand in front of the battle himself.Ieyasu smiled coldly, disapproving. Ieyasu understood these things.But what he was worried about was that if he wanted to personally lead the troops out of the battle, if something happened to him before the battle, the world would be in chaos. Looking at Takeda Shingen, it is not difficult to know that when he fell in the battle, he was immediately in danger: the funeral could not be held, and the proceedings had to be falsified.Although Shingen arranged everything with extraordinary caution, it still couldn't eliminate the uneasiness of the veterans around the corpse and their dissatisfaction with Katsuyori.

Now, the battle of Osaka is imminent.Ieyasu didn't want to be in front of the battle in person, but wanted to sit in Junfu and command the overall situation, but this did not make people feel at ease.All Banner generals, Xiuzhong and his cronies all hated Daban.Resentment will only lead to "bad fate", and Ieyasu knows this well.So, he listened to Kesui Zongshan's lectures, watched Xingruowu, and listened to Heike's pipa, hoping to re-experience life from all aspects. While listening to the Heike pipa, for some reason, Ieyasu suddenly became sad, almost crying, and even wanted to send the young concubine away.In fact, rather than feeling sad, it is better to say that he is worried about the fate of Hideyori, the orphan of Taiko in Osaka Castle, Mrs. Yodo, and Chihime.When he listened to the pipa and wept, and hesitated whether to come to the battle in person, the time went to twenty-three in the blink of an eye.Five days later, Ieyasu unexpectedly welcomed Hideyori's envoy to inform Katagiri Kamoto of all things that would lead to punishment for his disloyalty and disrespect.

The battle preparations are sufficient, and the use of troops and mobilization at the time of the war have been planned long ago. Even the rescue of Hideyori, Chihime, and Mrs. Yodo in an emergency has been entrusted to Yagyu Somo in advance.But Ieyasu really decided to go before the battle in person after he learned of Katagiri Kasumi's accident.In Xiu Lai's eyes, Katagiri Kamoto has become an unforgivable disloyal minister, which is really unacceptable.Childish people don't see things with their eyes, but judge with emotions, find good things in those they like, and find fault with those they hate.However, out of a hundred people in the world, there are always 90 immature, they always cry into a ball, fight together, do not distinguish between east, west, north, south.

On the first day of October, Katsushige Itakura sent a detailed message about the "Osaka riot".He said that Katagiri Kamoto avoided suspicion and hid in his own mansion in Ibaraki Castle; Ishikawa Sadamasa took the lead in fleeing Osaka; Nobunaga’s second son Oda Changzhen (Nobuo) saw that the war was inevitable and left Osaka Castle for refuge.According to the urgent report, Chang Gaoyuan, the widow of Kyogoku, who has always been with Mrs. Dian in the city, secretly kept in touch with Itakura. Chang Gaoyuan's painstaking persuasion was ineffective, Mrs. Dian was gradually moved by the main fighters, and now she cursed Kanto every day.

"But these are all influenced by the surroundings, not from Mrs. Dian's heart. So I just ask Itakura-sama to believe in our sisterhood. I thought that one day, my sister would understand my intentions, but now there are some malicious rumors. Rumors. Because I am worried that Itakura-sama will believe the rumors, I just want to say something in advance. As for the Imperial Palace, Zhongzhi or Zhonggao will go to explain it soon, please take care of me.” This is the original words of the Chang Gao Court. Finally, it is Katsushige's own opinion.He thought that even if Ieyasu himself stepped in to contain the big names in the Western Kingdom, it would be very important to prevent the situation from expanding.

Ieyasu couldn't help crying.In this troubled world, I have lived a long life of seventy-three years. Just when I secretly rejoiced for this, there was a disaster. Yes, without extraordinary courage, how can this riot be quelled?But now, you can't be stingy with this old bone. Once he made up his mind, Ieyasu stopped hesitating.He immediately sent a message from Honda Uenosuke Masazumi: "Send people to Edo, it is the same as the previous discussion, Tokugawa Ieyasu is determined to go before the battle and attack Osaka." Zhengchun nodded cautiously.In fact, he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

After Honda Masazumi was asked to send fast horses to Edo, Ieyasu sent troops to the daimyos of Omi, Ise, Mino, and Owari respectively.He deliberately pretended to be old and strong. "It seems that the Great Imperial Palace is really a warlike person. Ever since he decided to go to war, even his eyes have changed." To Masamune Honda's statement, Todo Takatora, who hurried from Edo on the second day of October, couldn't help but frowned, "Master Ueno is still young. It seems that only the elders can understand the thoughts of the elders." "What do you mean, my lord?" Zhengchun asked.

"Your father must have reminded me, it seems that I should prepare a shadow warrior." "Shadow Warrior?" "Of course the Imperial Palace will go out. However, the Imperial Imperial Palace is very old, how can we let him suffer from the wind and snow in the winter? Therefore, there must be a substitute." Honda was startled in his heart, "Oh! Of course, this matter has been prepared for a long time." Because of his conceited temperament, he decided to accept it first, and then it would not be too late to find a substitute.Zhengchun was used to living a peaceful life, so he even ignored these for a while.After searching all over Chunfu, I finally found three old men who could act as stand-ins, and they were quite similar to Ieyasu.

"What kind of demeanor it is, I want to take a look first." Fujido Takahu was worried and continued to press. Therefore, Zhengchun ordered one person to be armed, one person to be in plain clothes, and one person to sit on the ground, and introduce them to Gao Hu respectively.Among the three, the armed old man is the most similar.This person is an ordinary person in Junfu, named Takeemon. "Okay, hand over this Takeemon to me, and I will train him well so that he looks more like a majestic Ogosho." Fujido Takatora said. At this time, Ieyasu was passing the lord of Kuwana Castle Honda Tadamasa and Kameyama Castle lord Matsudaira Tadaaki to himself and ordered: "Chongzheng will immediately lead all the ministries of Ise and stick to Omi Seta." Although the situation is tense, Ieyasu is not as aggressive as Masamune has repeatedly declared, and his actions do not seem to be very flexible. "Tadaaki must command the Mino army to rush to Fushimi and guard here strictly. During the battle of Sekigahara, Torii Hikemon was here to stain the yellow sand with blood." Having said that, Ieyasu added earnestly, "Keep guard , but don't rush to attack." It seems that Ieyasu still considered his old age and temporarily besieged Daban City instead of attacking it. Perhaps he would encircle it first and then negotiate.Honda Zhongzheng couldn't help feeling extremely anxious.Not only loyal to the government, but also those people in the banner who see that they can't become famous are also very worried. On the first three days of October, Ieyasu revealed his plan to attack Osaka to the veterans of Edo, saying that he would come before the battle in person and ordered Xiuzhong to stay in Edo on standby.But this is not a boost to morale, but rather an expectation, delaying time, hoping that Osaka can reflect and take the initiative to seek peace. "Now, I have to take care of the old ministers of Toyotomi." After saying that, Ieyasu ordered Higo Kato Tadahiro to guard Kyushu, and ordered Fukushima, Kuroda and other former Toyotomi ministers to gather in Edo. The purpose of staying in Jun's mansion and handing over Jiu Nan's house is to tell everyone that even a young son can't stay out of the matter and has to bear his own responsibilities.On the sixth day, Matsudaira Tadaaki and Honda Tadomasa had finished their preparations.On the seventh day of the lunar new year, as reported by Itakura Katsushige, Mrs. Yodo's sister, Chang Gaoyuan, the lord of Tango Miyazu Castle Kyokochi and the lord of Wakasa Obama Castle Kyogoku Tadaka rushed to Sunfu.Jiakang invited the two of them into the room and had a secret conversation for about half an hour.Although there is no way of knowing what kind of request Chang Gaoyuan made to Ieyasu, but the general situation can also be imagined, it must be about the fate of his sister and nephew Xiu Lai.She must say that she will continue to persuade her sister, please postpone the attack on Osaka.This inference is due to the fact that before and after the Osaka Winter War, the Chang Gaoyuan was enthusiastic about mediating between the hatchback camps. The vanguard of the Eastern Army was Fujido Takatora, and Gao Hu incorporated three substitutes selected by Uenosuke Masazumi into the army, and marched towards Osaka on the eighth day of October in the 19th year of Qingchang. The main force this time is the Northeast vassals.Ieyasu wanted to test the loyalty of the Date, Uesugi, and Satake clans to the shogunate through this expedition. On the tenth day of the Lunar New Year, Ieyasu received the daimyos who were rushing to Junfu, and on the eleventh day, Ieyasu set off. On the tenth day of the Lunar New Year, the generals were received, including Wakayama Castle Lord Asano Nagsei, Saga Castle Lord Nabeshima Katsushige, Kochi Castle Lord Yamauchi Tadyoshi, Tokushima Castle Lord Hachisuka Chijin, Kishiwada Castle Lord Yoshihide Koide, Usuki Castle Lord Inaba Norichi, and Saeki Castle Lord Mori Takamasa, Yoshitaka Endo, Lord of Mino Hachiman Castle, etc.It is not difficult to see that there is no one who shared joys and sorrows and fought side by side with Ieyasu, and all his descendants replaced him. "Hey, at the age of seventy, I still have to lead all the descendants to fight on the battlefield. I, Tokugawa Ieyasu, is the only one in the world!" This is undoubtedly a sincere emotion. But after leaving Junfu City, Ieyasu was not in a hurry, he traveled to Xuanchuan on the 12th and Zhongquan on the 13th, the journey was quite leisurely. As Jiakang moved westward, Xiuzhong also offered to go out on his own initiative. Long before Ieyasu left, Hidetaka specially sent Doi Toshikatsu to Junfu, saying: "I hope to send my son to this expedition, and invite my father to sit in Edo." Jiakang said with a smile: "I will accept the general's filial piety. But Jiakang is destined to suffer, and he can't control it when it comes to war. How can you rest assured if you don't see Daban City with your own eyes?" Edo left-behind person: "Sunfu stays behind, I appoint Lai Fang, assisted by Matsudaira Jiaxin from Katahara, Miyake Yassada from his mother, and Kuno Sounari from Kuno. The general must have a plan for everything in Edo, and he must think carefully about it. .” Doi Toshikatsu knew that there was an old father's concern hidden in these words.However, the left-bearer of Junfu handed over the 12-year-old Lai Fang, should General Xiuzhong also hand over the left-bearer of Edo to Matsudaira Zhonghui?At this time, there are rumors in the world that the general and Zhonghui are still at odds, and Xu Shijiakang hopes to use this expedition to quell the rumors. Therefore, Toshikatsu Doi followed General Hidetada's plan, and replied: Edo stayed behind with Tadaki Matsudaira, assisted by Iemasa Okuheira, Mogami Ikin, and Tadamata Torii. Today, Hidetada once again sent Matsudaira Shigenobu as an envoy to come after him and inform them of the arrangements in Edo, as well as the news that Fukushima Masanori, Kuroda Nagamasa, Kato Yoshiaki and others who have inextricably linked with the Toyotomi family have agreed to stay in Edo. Ask Jia Kang to allow him to go out. "It's too early, don't worry." Ieyasu also flatly refused, and entered Hamamatsu Castle on the 14th. At this time, Ieyasu ordered Karatsu Terasawa Hirodaka and Nagasaki to enshrine Hasegawa Fujihiro, and closely monitored the movements of foreign believers in Kyushu.The news that Hikone Castle Lord Ii Naokatsu was ill and his younger brother Naotaka led troops to guard the mountain city of Uji also came. As soon as the soldiers received Ieyasu's order, they acted quickly. Tadanao, the son of Echizen Hokusho Hideyasu, had already marched towards Yodohashimoto, and his movements were swift, as if he had already made preparations. On October 15th, Ieyasu's sedan chair arrived at Yoshida.Sixteen, arrived at the hometown of Okazaki.When he arrived in Okazaki, Ieyasu knew that the seventh son Tokugawa Yoshitoshi (Yoshinao) could not wait for his arrival, so he led his troops out of Nagoya in advance. Even though he didn't say it clearly, it also unexpectedly left a shadow in Ieyasu's heart: Hideyori may also feel that the battle is interesting, just like Zhongzhi and Yili. The next generation does not know how tragic the war is.They are just used to hearing stories of brave warriors, but they don't know the truth.They neither smell nor understand the screams of misery, despair, hunger, and blood. Zhonghui, Yili, Laixuan, Laifang, Hideyori of Osaka Castle, and Zhongzhi, the son of Hideyasu, all know nothing about Ieyasu's true meaning.But Ieyasu, who is seventy-three out of ten, had to lead these brave young offspring to explore the joys and sorrows of the world. Ieyasu felt strange from time to time.Life is so indescribable, so ridiculous.Thinking of this, he wanted to laugh at himself.How can he not smile?No matter how fierce the samurai was in a duel, he was almost undefeated. Now, such a Tokugawa Ieyasu has to start a bloody battle with the young boy, is this fate? However, if one is not careful and makes the situation worse, it will definitely lead to an unmanageable tragedy of heaven and earth.Even as a lion hunts a rabbit, he should exert all his strength. On the seventeenth, Ieyasu arrived in Nagoya.On the 18th, news came that Matsudaira Tadanao, who had come from Echizen North Village, and Maeda Toshimitsu, who had come from Kanazawa Castle, had started a bet.Therefore, Ieyasu ordered Zhong Zhizhi to deploy in the southwest of the mountain city and Toji Temple, ordered Liguang to camp in Yodo and Toba, and strictly ordered the two to let the soldiers rest more. Ieyasu himself arrived in Gifu on the 19th, and near Ebawara on the 20th. At this time, he received another piece of news that the battle formation was like child's play: several ronin carrying Hideyori's secret order were arrested by Itakura Katsushige in Kyoto. brought to justice.Hideyori and others expected that Ieyasu would enter Nijo Castle in the near future, so they made a plan to set fire to Nijo Castle and take advantage of the chaos to attack Ieyasu, and sent those ronin into Kyoto. Ieyasu couldn't help smiling wryly.Yesterday, he also received a letter resubmitted by Toku Yongchang, the lord of Mino Takasu Castle, and written by Hideyori himself.The letter stated that Hideyori had no dissent from Ieyasu and the general.For this reason, Ieyasu was slightly moved.But now it seems that this is just a trick to let Ieyasu relax his vigilance and lure him into Nijo Castle. Not only that, but when Ieyasu passed through Mt. Sawa, Ishida Mitsunari's old territory on the 21st, and arrived in Yongyuan on the 22nd, he received two pieces of news: one was that General Hidetada had personally led an army from Edo, and the other was that he had set off from Nagoya in high spirits. Yili has arrived in Kyoto. "Don't be in a hurry, or the soldiers will get tired easily!" Ieyasu immediately sent an envoy to Xiuzhong. Ieyasu's advance was neither hasty nor slow, but it was by no means stagnant.As the distance from Osaka shortened, he played chess pieces step by step, so that the world could see the obvious gap between adults and children.General Xiuzhong was still tepid, which reassured Jiakang.But in Xiuzhong's view, this is irresponsible and lack of filial piety.Before getting Ieyasu's permission to send troops, Hidetaka said to Takatora Fujido: "Although the order from the Imperial Palace has not yet arrived, I have decided to send troops." He wanted to kill first and then play. Ieyasu marched in a sedan chair and Hidetada led the army, one slow and one urgent, leaving a completely different impression on the world.The former makes people feel that Osaka still has room for "repentance", on the contrary, the latter has no scruples. Takenaka Shigetoshi, already the castellan of Bungo Prefecture, learned of Hidetada's dispatch, so he personally sent an envoy to Tadakatsu, the son of Fukushima Masanori, the castellan of Aki Hiroshima.Zhengzheng is in Edo, but if Zhongsheng doesn't immediately lead his troops to join the army attacking Osaka, he may be suspected by Xiuzhong. As soon as Shigetoshi Takenaka moved, Yoshihide Koide followed closely behind.Ji Ying Naixiu Lai's assistant government after Xiuzheng. "Hideyori sent a letter, I send it here." This is a letter written by Hideyori, but I ask Koide to support Osaka Yunyun no matter what.Ben Duo Zhengchun handed over the letter to Ieyasu.Ieyasu looked at it and frowned: "Even Koide abandoned Hideyori and left?" Even Koide and Katagiri, who were raised by the Toyotomi family, abandoned and left. Just a decisive battle?The simplicity of Hideyori's idea made Ieyasu sigh again and again. At this time, a piece of news that made Ieyasu even more unhappy came.Todo Takatora, who served as the vanguard, was ordered by Ieyasu to order Katagiri Kamoto and his son Xiaoli to serve as the forwards to attack Osaka. Katagiri and his son immediately handed over the hostages and obeyed. Takatora Fujido figured out Ieyasu's thoughts and asked Katagiri Kamoto to be the vanguard, which of course meant to let him communicate with the castle master and everyone.Unexpectedly, Katagiri and his son agreed immediately, which shows how sad Hideyori is!People who were supposed to be Osaka's allies left one after another, and unexpected people brought Ieyasu news that was not good for Osaka, and their hearts turned to Kanto. Xiuzhong's advance made peace even more impossible. Ieyasu could no longer stop.On October 23, he went straight to Nijo City, Kyoto. Entering Nijo Castle, Ieyasu once again sent an envoy to Hidetada who was heading west along the Tokaido: "Don't worry. The law of war says: A long-distance attack is a sign of a defeated army. You must be sympathetic to the suffering of the soldiers, and it is advisable to march in a dignified manner." What Ieyasu did was a strategy of "coercion" commonly used by the late Taige.Ieyasu is currently trying to make Xiu Lai reflect.Not only Hideyoshi, but he also wants to make the ronin who gather in Osaka City fearing the chaos of the world to see the general trend of the world clearly, so that they can change their original intentions and give up confrontation. But the situation has changed.If Takeda Shingen, Hojo Ujimasa, Kobayakawa Takakage, Uesugi Kenshin and others, once the difference in military strength is shown to them, no matter what their hearts are, they will definitely not have the will to fight again.But at present, these children never know what a battle formation is, nor do they understand the horror of the battle and the difference in strength. The world's great names who gathered in Nijo Castle one after another firmly believed that Ieyasu was very angry and determined to crusade against Osaka, so they all asked to take the lead. First Katagiri Kamoto and his son Xiaoli came to plead for orders, and then Hosokawa Tadaki.Everyone revealed the inside story of Osaka to Ieyasu.But in fact, Ieyasu knew all about the situation in the castle, and felt very sad about it. On October 24th, Samurai Chuanzuo, Quan Da Nayan Hirohashi Jiansheng, and Sanjo Xishitiao came to Ertiao City as imperial envoys.When receiving the condolences from the emperor, Ieyasu was about to cry.He doesn't want to fight, but no one can understand his thoughts, and Xiuzhong knows little about his father's thoughts.If so, how will future generations evaluate Ieyasu?Could it be that everyone will comment: The country is easy to change, but the nature is hard to change. This warlike Tokugawa samurai, even at the age of 70 or 30, still can't stand loneliness, dragging his old bones that can't even ride a horse to the battlefield ? After the emissary went back, it became even more lively.All the ministers believed that this was an excellent opportunity to flatter and curry favor, and they all came to pay respects in formal attire, and there was an endless stream.Some of them blatantly declared that they wanted to abolish the qualifications of "Toyotomi" to be equal to the New Five Photographers-Osaka City, which could not see the current situation clearly, was already besieged on all sides.At this time, under the banner of the mighty general heading west along the Tokaido, in addition to the mighty banner, Date, Uesugi, Satake and other Northeast Xiongfan armies also joined the ranks of conquest of Osaka. On that day, Ieyasu borrowed 200 silver coins from Nagashima Asano, Nagashige Nabeshima, Yamauchi Tadyoshi and others, who contributed money for the restoration of Edo Castle and sent troops this time. As soon as Yuan and Shimadzu Jiajiu's men set off, they headed east together. So far, this seems to be a sad military exercise sweeping the world.