Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 392
If it is necessary to divide the power of the current Hideyoshi retainers, then there must be the Noobi faction with Toyotomi Hidecho as the core, and the new faction headed by Kuroda Takataka.

That's right, at this time in the Toyotomi family there was no distinction between the so-called Wudou (Duan) faction and Wenchen faction.

Like all rapidly expanding daimyos, Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s retainers are still divided according to their own backgrounds, actively or passively divided into the core faction who followed Hideyoshi Noo to raise troops, and the new faction who recruited everywhere after Hideyoshi became a daimyo.

Just like the Shibata Katsu family of the Oda family, the members of the core group are mainly daimyos such as Hachisuka, Asano, Fukushima, and Kato.

They followed Hideyoshi earlier, and most of them have now become the core backbone of the Toyotomi family. Some, such as Hachisuka Masakatsu, have retired, and most of their sons are allied with each other based on their births.

Due to the lack of deep foundation of the new faction, Hideyoshi will intentionally or unintentionally favor the new faction. Over time, the martial arts party at the end of the Toyotomi family has accumulated deep grievances against the Wenchen faction.

Generally, according to such an arrangement, during the Sekigahara period, Dingduo was the contradiction between the old ministers of Nobi and the new factions. It was unreasonable for the Toyotomi family to be picked by Tokugawa Ieyasu.

However, there is a common problem among civil servant factions in ancient and modern China and abroad. They always feel that they are great when they are taken care of by the monarch.

With the beginning of the conquest, many daimyos were handed down to the second generation daimyos. These second generation daimyos had been playing games since they were young, and they didn't have such a strong regional concept. The boundaries gradually blurred.

They have been educated since they were young to build a country based on martial arts. They themselves look down on the Sancheng school who can only write a few words and get rewarded by Hideyoshi. Fighting faction.

However, the civil servant faction headed by Ishida Sansei didn't notice the change at all, and took pride in being favored by being close to Hideyoshi.

As we said earlier, Hideyoshi in the past and Hideyoshi in the later period had very different concepts of governance. In the later period of Hideyoshi's reign, he was more and more fond of reusing solitary officials and cruel officials when dealing with courtier relations.

In his opinion, these vassals who have no backer must always be around him, but he has forgotten that his body can't last long. After losing his backer, how can these vassals be able to resist him? What about camp confrontation?
When Toyotomi Hideji supported the Otomo family last year, due to his own command error, he lost his teacher and humiliated the country. The biggest loss was Masanori Fukushima.

Masanori Fukushima, who successfully escaped, told Kato Kiyomasa and others more than once that he would teach Toyotomi Hideji a lesson. If Hideyoshi hadn't been dragged back to Osaka by Hideyoshi early in the morning, he might have been shot in the head by Masamori Fukushima.

Later, Hideyoshi doubled the compensation for Kato Kiyomasa and Fukushima Masanori Zhixing out of family harmony, and Ningning Yezi reconciled in the play, and both Hideyoshi and Hideji threw the commanding pot to Sengoku Hidehisa.

In Toyotomi Hideji's words: This is the first time he has played as a regiment commander, so naturally he listens to Sengoku Hidehisa for everything.

Fukushima thought about it for a while, and it seemed to make sense.Now that he has obtained the title compensation, he will no longer have conflicts with Toyotomi Hideji, and of course the relationship is not as familiar as it used to be.

Hideo took this opportunity to talk to Fukushima Masanori, Kato Kiyomasa and others, but the effect was not obvious.

In fact, Fukushima didn't have much affection for Hideka, it was only because Hideka did have a hand in commanding the army, and because Hideka was more powerful than him, he expressed goodwill towards Hideka, but he didn't express his desire to do so. Closer to the idea.

On the contrary, Hachisuka Jiazheng and Kuroda Nagamasa had a good relationship with the Hideka, and through drinking, they showed that they wanted Hideka to help and support them more.

In fact, Xiujia himself was not as good as in the Japanese Warring States Samurai system. Even before the little finger was cut off, Xiujia did not have any outstanding performance in the art of war.

Hideka is more outside the battlefield, leading the overall situation as a chess player, rather than like Masanori Fukushima, who is always at the front. It is also for this reason that Masamori Fukushima doesn't like Hideka much.

It's just because the Xiu family is powerful and has indeed won some battles, plus they belong to Ningning's camp, so they are willing to make friends with each other.

Since Masanori Fukushima and the others are unwilling to take the initiative to approach them, and Hideka is not so eager to join their circle and leave, there is no reason why Hideka, who is a daimyo, would take the initiative to lick them.

Just taking advantage of this time, Xiujia pulled out Ikeda Teruma who was drinking with them, and called him aside for a detailed chat.

You must know that Hideka also has a life-saving grace for Ikeda Teruma himself!
At that time, the Nobi war had just ended, and when Hideka returned to Okayama from Omi, he heard that there were refugees in the vicinity of Kyoto who were looting the government's official food.

This group of people was originally under the command of the Ikeda family and was sent to Osaka to repair the city. Due to the downfall of the Ikeda family, they lost the samurai who managed them. Naturally, no one was supplying them with food, so they plundered near Osaka-Kyoto.

At that time, the Ikeda family had just been defeated because of an unauthorized attack, but the situation was quite unfavorable to Hideyoshi. In a rage, Hideyoshi reduced the Ikeda family from 60 koku in Mino to 13 koku in Isetsu Castle.

If he found out that the Mino people of the Ikeda family were still making trouble near his capital, he would definitely be furious again and take the opportunity to drastically change the knowledge and behavior of the Ikeda family again.

It was also in this situation that Xiujia asked Xiuchang to come forward and help persuade Hideyoshi.In the end, he was brought into the North Army Corps to deal with Sasa Chengzheng, and he was offset by merit and demerit.

After the news of Kyoto reached Mino, the Ikeda family, which was still preparing to transfer the seal, was in a state of panic, thinking that he would definitely not be able to escape punishment this time.

In the end, what was waiting was a piece of paper that was incorporated into the order of the Hokuriku Army to crusade against Etchu, and the confused Ikeda family could only follow through.

Because in the original arrangement of the military meeting, only the troops of Echizen, Wakasa, Kaga, and Noto Shikoku would go to the Hokuriku. Even Kita Omi was not fully mobilized, let alone Mino, who was farther away and could not be beaten.

Even if the Mino soldiers were to be recruited to fight, they would not be called to the Ikeda family, who had just lost a battle and suffered a great loss of military personnel.

After the war, many famous names were granted titles, and while the Ikeda family anxiously waited for Hideyoshi to dispose of them, they thought that they had not made any contribution in Hokuriku, so this time they would definitely not be blamed by Hideyoshi.

But in the end, there was only a balance of merit and demerit, which was really beyond their expectations.

Hideka took Ikeda Teruma to a place where everyone was staying, and immediately said, "In the third year of Tensho, the riots in Kyoto were really thrilling. Fortunately, it didn't affect Osumi Mamoru in the end."

"Three years of Tensho?" Ikeda Huimasa said in shock when he heard Hideka mention the old incident, "Did it be your Highness who carried the family into the Northern Army regiment at that time? I always thought it was Dainagon's move." .”

Xiujia smiled and nodded and said, "I happened to pass through Kyoto and heard about this, so I quickly entrusted my uncle to help the Ikeda family be incorporated into the Beijun regiment, so as to escape my father's censure."

Ikeda Teruma nodded upon hearing this, "I said that our Ikeda family had just suffered a defeat, and the military soldiers suffered heavy losses. We should not have been recruited, but His Highness Kanbai instead ordered us to go to Etsuchu to participate in the battle to evaluate Sasaka Naruma.

We did not make any achievements in the war, but we were able to forgive the problem of lax control in Osaka. It turned out that General You planned a strategy in advance. "

Ikeda Teruma heard that it was the Hideo family who came forward to help him settle down Hideyoshi, and immediately showed a grateful expression, "Thank you, General You, for your help, but I'm surprised, our Ikeda family doesn't seem to have anything to do with you, and we didn't go up. Please, you Why did you take the initiative to help us?"

In fact, this question has been suppressed in the Ikeda family's mind for a long time, because they all think that with Hideyoshi's character, he will never just hold it up high and put it down gently.

But at that time, everyone thought it was Xiuchang who came forward to help. Facing Xiuchang, he was not so bold as to dare to take the initiative to ask, so he could only swallow this question in his stomach.

Now hearing that the Lord came to him, Ikeda Teruma asked this question that had been hidden in his heart for a long time.

"When Oda Ufu was killed, it was the four families of Ikeda, Toyotomi, Ukita, and Niwa who stood up and stabilized the situation. The battle of Nooo was not the fault of the Ikeda family. There is death in the battlefield, but life is always beautiful. Victory.

Father has already reduced the Ikeda family's seal on a large scale because of the Ikeda family's reasons. Is it necessary to completely change the Ikeda family because of the riots?

After all, the Ikeda family was one of the four families that stabilized the Oda family in the first place. I really couldn't bear to see such a situation happen, so I helped out. "

Ikeda Teruma heard the Hideka's explanation, and said, "It's a pity that out of the six shikai at the beginning, one has been destroyed, two are surviving, and the other two have to live without family continuity under the power of the Toyotomi family. .”

In fact, what Teruma Ikeda wanted to say was "the remaining two families were forced to bow their knees, but after seeing Hideka, he seemed to be much better than Ikeda himself, so he changed a more appropriate attributive."

Hideka heard dissatisfaction from Ikeda Terumasa's words, which Hideka wanted to confirm with Ikeda Terumasa.

After all, anyone who contributed to a friend's family property would be unhappy if even his father died in the end and part of the family property was robbed by a friend who helped him in the end.

However, even though Ikeda Teruma was changed from 60 to 13 koku by Hideyoshi, he still could not express any dissatisfaction with Hideyoshi. Even after being transferred from Ise to Osumi a few days ago, he tried every means to praise Hideyoshi's benevolence .

Those words were not from Huizheng's heart, and every time he thought about them, he would feel sick.

After a moment of silence, Ikeda Teruma calmed down his emotions a bit, and said to the Hide family, "It took so long for His Highness to come to me, and it's not just to let the Ikeda family recognize your kindness.

Please rest assured, my Ikeda family is no better than others, and I will always remember the help of others.From now on, if His Highness is useful to the Ikeda family, please tell me. "

After all, Ikeda Teruma is not familiar with the Hide family, even if he now knows that it was the Hide family who saved the Ikeda family, he would not deliberately approach the Hide family, thinking of the Hide family in his heart, and helping out at critical times That's it.

After that, he turned around and wanted to leave.

But he was stopped by Xiu's family, "Why did Osumi Mamoru leave in such a hurry? If I just wanted to let you remember my kindness, I would have talked to you about it long ago. Why do I have to be so deliberate today."

Ikeda Teruma immediately became interested when he heard about it, and asked Hideka, "Oh? Then, does General You have any advice?"

Seeing Teruma Ikeda's return, Hideie asked him a question, "Although the Ikeda family transferred from Ise to Osumi, but the west side is next to Shimadzu, and the east side is Kato, in fact they have not been sealed up. of space.

Now that the west of Kanto has been basically assessed, and the rise of the Toyotomi family has become a settlement, what does Osumi Mamoru think is the future of the Ikeda family? "

"The future?" Ikeda Teruma frowned when he heard Hideka's question, this was indeed something he hadn't thought about.

Prior to this, the Ikeda family was located in Ise, with only 13 shi, and Teruma Ikeda was thinking about revitalizing the family name.

This time, 4.7 shi was directly sealed, which accounted for 1/3 of the Ikeda family's original knowledge and practice.

Now hearing Xiujia's inquiry, Ikeda Teruma took the initiative to think, it seems that it is indeed as Xiujia said, there is no room for sealing around the Ikeda family, if you want to seal the original collar, you must have a daimyo around to transfer it out.

But Shimadzu is a native of Southern Kyushu, and the Shimadzu family that has been stripped of Osumi will never allow his Satsuma to be taken away by Hideyoshi.

And Kato Kiyoshi was born in Hideyoshi's direct line, after thinking about it, it seems that he might move his position in order to reward the two.

"The one who loves himself is Osumi's temporary master, a tool man." Ikeda Teruma thought with some dissatisfaction.

Although Ikeda Teruma didn't say it clearly, Hideka could see his dissatisfaction from his expression, and took the initiative to talk to him, "I have a business here, and I need Mamoru Osumi's help, and I will be thankful after it is done."

After that, he randomly drew the approximate locations of Satsuma, Osumi, and the Ryukyu Islands on the ground in the yard, and explained to him, "The King of Ryukyu had previously funded the Shimadzu family, and he didn't respect Father's advice.

Now that Shimadzu's rebellion has been pacified, does the King of Ryukyu, who is a thief, also have to deal with it?

Father may be unwilling to work on an expedition because of the distance, but as retainers, shouldn't we solve the lord's worries and problems? "

When Ikeda Teruma heard that Hideyoshi was speaking for Hideyoshi, his heart rose in his throat. After all, he had just said something bad about Hideyoshi, and it would be bad if Hideya took him back.

But the words on the side of the Xiu family changed suddenly. He looked at Ikeda Huimasa and continued, "I have already planned to send someone to invite the Ryukyu king to Beijing to plead guilty after the autumn harvest, but Ryukyu is far away from Okayama after all, and I need Osumi guards on the way." help."

"You want to go to Ryukyu?" Ikeda Teruma asked in surprise.

Hideka ignored his inquiry, pointed to Yongliangbu Island and continued, "After the Ryukyu assessment, Tokunoshima, Onikijima, Oshima and their affiliated islands to the north of this island will all belong to your Osumi Kokuben domain. Send warriors to cultivate and open up wasteland on the spot, and manage the local natives."

"The land measurement units of the two countries are slightly different, but I always know that the line will not be less than 3 shi. I think that no matter how rich your Osumi clan is, you will not look down on the 3 shi."

Ikeda Teruma was overjoyed just after Hideyoshi awarded 4.7 koku, and now Hideyoshi sent another 3 koku to Zhixing, which is almost equal to 70% of their original award, so how could he refuse?

But he is also very clear that there is no such thing as a pie in the world, so he asked the Xiu family: "Then what is the price I have to pay, General You?"

(End of this chapter)