prosperous age

Oda Nobunaga is very famous in Japan. He was a daimyo and ruler of the country from the Warring States Period to the Azuchi-Momoyama Period, and one of the "Three Heroes of the Japanese Warring States Period".

The so-called Three Heroes of the Japanese Warring States Period refers to three daimyo who made outstanding contributions to the unification of Japan at the end of the Japanese Warring States period. They are Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Oda Nobunaga completely broke the chaos of the Warring States Period in Japan. He was originally just a small daimyo in Owari Province, but later he defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto's army at Okehazama and became famous throughout Japan.

By supporting the separatist forces in the local areas, Ashikaga Yoshiaki gradually took control of Kyoto, defeated the powerful hostile daimyo one by one, and mastered more than half of Japan's territory.

He implemented innovative policies such as the extensive use of muskets, encouraged free trade, and rectified transportation routes, opening up Japan's path to modern times. He successfully controlled the political and cultural core areas of Japan, mainly in the Kinki region, making the Oda clan the most powerful daimyo in the middle and late Warring States period of Japan.

Between 1568 and 1582, Oda Nobunaga became the leader who controlled the political situation in Japan, overthrew the Muromachi shogunate, which had nominally ruled Japan for more than years, and brought to an end the Warring States period that had lasted for more than years since the Onin War.

However, on the eve of unifying all of Japan, he was forced to commit suicide by seppuku at Honnoji Temple in Kyoto by his trusted retainer Akechi Mitsuhide, thus ending his glorious life.

However, his policy of "spreading military power throughout the country" had a huge impact on Japan's development, and is still highly praised even in modern times.

"Oda Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu"

Wei Guangde murmured a few words. He clearly remembered that after Oda Nobunaga's death, Japan was unified by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who then launched a war of aggression against Korea and was defeated by the Ming army. The general who led the troops to Korea for rescue was Li Chengliang's son Li Rusong.

Wei Guangde tapped the table lightly and suddenly asked, "Do you remember the names of those independent generals and important retainers under Oda Nobunaga?"

Wei Guangde suddenly realized that Oda Nobunaga only had a few years left to live, but the huge strength he had accumulated could not collapse all at once.

Eventually, the Oda clan would probably be divided up among family members and important retainers.

Wei Guangde did not ask the descendants of the Oda clan, because even if they inherited Oda Nobunaga's legacy, they would still be surnamed Oda, and it would be absolutely impossible for them to change their surname to Toyotomi, so this could be completely ruled out.

Therefore, the only people who could inherit the power of the Oda clan without being a member of the Oda clan were important retainers who had enough influence to gather the Oda clan's men.

Perhaps, Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed his strategy of unifying Japan by inheriting Oda Nobunaga's strength.

When Liu Shouyou heard what Wei Guangde said, he immediately replied in a serious tone: "Shibata Katsuie, Takigawa Ikmasu, Niwa Nagahide Akechi Mitsuhide, Hashiba Hideyoshi, Hayashi Hidetada, Sakuma Nobumori."

Liu Shouyou slowly read out the names he remembered, which were actually also within the scope of investigation of the Jinyiwei spies.

After all, Oda Nobunaga's power in Japan was so strong that he could almost be said to be the real king of Japan. He was much more powerful than the emperor, but his influence was slightly weaker.

"Wait, what's going on with this Hashiba Hideyoshi?"

Among the names Liu Shouyou read out, there was no one with the surname Toyotomi, but Wei Guangde heard someone named Hideyoshi, so he decisively interrupted and asked.

After all, to inherit the huge power left by Oda Nobunaga, one must be someone with a high status in the Oda family.

The names Liu Shouyou read out were most likely read out according to their status in the family.

In other words, this man named Hideyoshi was ranked fifth among the Oda family's retainers, which was a very high ranking.

Thinking of ranking fifth, Wei Guangde's heart suddenly moved again.

Not to mention the three in the palace, they are the royal family and can be said to be the ones who truly hold power in the Ming Dynasty.

As for the others, they were just retainers of the royal family, although they were nominally important officials of the court.

If ranked
Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng must be counted as the first two, and then the eunuchs around the two palaces would also have a lot of say. Even though they don’t have much contact with the previous dynasty, that’s just to avoid suspicion.

According to the rules, the only eunuch in the harem who could legitimately contact the previous dynasty was the Prime Minister. In order to ensure the unity of the policies of the inner and outer courts, this had to be done with the permission of the emperor and the empress dowager.

If other eunuchs interfered in the affairs of the court, they would be suspected of interfering in government affairs.

By this calculation, Wei Guangde can only be said to be one of the top five important ministers in the Ming Dynasty, and of course he ranks second in the court.

At this time, Liu Shouyou naturally didn't know that Wei Guangde had so many thoughts in his mind, but he also searched for information about Hashiba Hideyoshi in his mind and slowly read it out.

"Hideyoshi Hashiba's original name was Kinoshita Tokichiro. He was born into a poor peasant family in Nakamura Township, Aichi County, Owari Province. He was originally a low-ranking infantryman, but later rose to prominence by serving Oda Nobunaga."

After listening to Liu Shouyou's story, Wei Guangde roughly knew this man's life.

Hideyoshi was born in Owari, a fertile plain between Kyoto and the remote eastern country. It can be said to be the most advanced area after Kyoto.

This place is bustling with merchants, so one can get access to information from all over the world.

In this environment, Hideyoshi certainly got some business information, and he was naturally intelligent and had a good business sense, so he was able to earn some money to make a living.

Hideyoshi first worked as a servant in the house of Matsushita Kahei in Totomi Province, and later joined Oda Nobunaga's team and became a soldier of the Oda family.

At first, Hideyoshi was just a servant doing odd jobs, but his intelligence and talent were appreciated by Oda Nobunaga, and he was gradually promoted from a servant to a lower-level samurai.

Because he was deeply loved by Oda Nobunaga, his status in the Oda family continued to rise, and he finally became one of Oda Nobunaga's most trusted people and an important retainer.

Of course, this is also closely related to the fact that Hideyoshi came from Owari. Because he had a clean resume and achieved his success entirely through his own talent, Oda Nobunaga was able to use him with confidence.

"So, he started as a menial worker and gradually developed into an important retainer of the Oda army."

Wei Guangde exclaimed.

I have to admit that this guy named Hideyoshi is a thousand times better than him.

He got to where he is today thanks to the appreciation of Emperor Jiajing, and later on, it was because of his placement in Prince Yu's Mansion, which was not well received, that he became the Second Assistant to the Cabinet at the age of 40.

Here, we have to say that it was all thanks to the imperial examination, otherwise he would probably be making a living somewhere in Jiujiang now, or serving as a general in a garrison.

But Hideyoshi climbed up from the bottom, and his experience was full of ups and downs. He was a complete replica of Zhu Yuanzhang, making the leap from the bottom to the top of the class.

"Sure enough, none of those who have left their names in history are easy to deal with."

Wei Guangde sighed in his heart and had to admit it.

"You said that the surname Hashiba was given to Hideyoshi by Oda Nobunaga?"

However, when Wei Guangde heard about the process of Hideyoshi changing his name from Kinoshita Tokichiro to Hashiba Hideyoshi, he suddenly had an epiphany, as if his Ren and Du meridians had been opened up.

He is now extremely certain that this Hashiba Hideyoshi is most likely the later Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the man who, after unifying Japan, even boasted that he would conquer the Ming Dynasty.

"Yes, because of his merits, Oda Nobunaga created a new surname, Hashiba, with one character from each of the names of the famous generals of his family, Shibata Katsuie and Niwa Nagahide, and named him Hashiba Chikuzen-no-kami Hideyoshi.

Chikuzen no Kami was Hideyoshi's official title at the time, similar to the garrison commander or governor. "

Liu Shouyou, in accordance with his power, positioned Hideyoshi at the rank of a third-rank official in the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, in reality, the Ming Dynasty would not recognize the official ranks of Japan.

"Okay, no more talking, send someone to keep an eye on this person."

Wei Guangde had previously only asked the Embroidered Uniform Guard to track down people from the Japanese country with the surname Toyotomi, but they never found any.

But now that we know who Toyotomi Hideyoshi is, there is no need to look for him anymore.

As mentioned in Deyunshe crosstalk, the Japanese forms are generally created according to geographical characteristics, such as "Inoue", "Tanaka", etc.

The surname Toyotomi was most likely given to him by someone, just like the surname bestowed by the emperor of the Ming Empire.

Of course, the only person who was qualified to give Hideyoshi a surname was the current Oda Nobunaga, the so-called emperor.

"Yes." Liu Shouyou replied immediately.

After giving the order, Wei Guangde returned his gaze to the map on the coffee table.

Wei Guangde was of course more familiar with the shape of Japan, which was similar to a worm.

Wei Guangde pointed to the northwest corner of the map and asked, "This is North Korea, right?"

"Yes, Lord Wei, this side is Korea, and this whole area is Japan."

Liu Shouyou stretched out his hand and drew a map of Japan for Wei Guangde, but Wei Guangde's sight was no longer on Japan and the places marked with gold and silver mines, but on an island between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

Liu Shouyou was very perceptive and noticed Wei Guangde's focus, so he immediately said, "Lord, this is Tsushima Island. Most of the trade between Japan and Korea is conducted here."

"The next step for the Jinyiwei is to prepare for the investigation of the terrain of Tsushima Island and the deployment of Japanese troops."

Wei Guangde gave orders directly to Liu Shouyou.

"Yes."

Liu Shouyou had already vaguely guessed the meaning of Wei Guangde's order. It was because this place was too close to Iwami Silver Mine.

There is no doubt that the cabinet, no, to be more precise, it should be Lord Wei who seems to be very interested in Japan's Iwami Silver Mine.

But think about it, if we can occupy this place, the Ming Dynasty's finances can increase by 2 million taels of silver a year, and if silver coins are minted, it can increase by another 200,000 or 300,000 taels.

This income was undoubtedly a huge source of revenue for the Ming government, whose income was only 4 million taels of silver.

"Also, when we contacted North Korea, we inquired about the sea area north of North Korea. I heard that the barbarians called it the Sea of ​​Japan."

Wei Guangde asked casually.

"Yes, the Whale Sea is indeed called the Sea of ​​Japan by the barbarians, and the Koreans call it the North Sea."

Liu Shouyou has learned a lot about overseas in recent years, especially Japan and North Korea.

In fact, the Jinyiwei spies he sent entered Japan from two routes to gather intelligence, one was Ryukyu and the other was Korea.

Naturally, you will become more familiar with the surrounding situation.

“I’m telling you that next year the East China Sea Navy will send a fleet here to find a route to Nurgan City.

Tsushima Island is a good transit point.

Do you understand what I mean?"

After hearing Wei Guangde's words, Liu Shouyou understood what he meant. He wanted to seize Tsushima Island from the Japanese.

However, from his point of view, even if we don’t consider Iwami Silver Mine, capturing Tsushima Island would be beneficial to the Ming Dynasty.

Not to mention ensuring the safety of the northbound route, even if a large army was deployed here, it would cut off the connection between Korea and Japan.

The Ming Dynasty court is now pursuing a policy similar to "isolationism" and wants to cut off ties with Japan.

However, Korea secretly traded with Japan. Although the imperial court did not issue an edict to them, it was impossible for Korea to be unaware of the Ming Dynasty's attitude towards Japan.

Sending troops to garrison Tsushima Island can not only deter Japan, but also serve as a warning to North Korea.

"Lord Wei, if we want to station troops on Tsushima Island, I'm afraid we need to find a place nearby to station a large army so that it can complement Tsushima Island."

Liu Shouyou had an idea and immediately proposed it to Wei Guangde.

"Well, where do you think is the best place?"

Wei Guangde agreed in his heart that if the Ming army only occupied Tsushima Island, it would actually pose a risk to the garrison because of the lack of support.

It’s not that we are worried about Japan declaring an all-out war on the Ming Dynasty, but we cannot joke with the lives of our officers and soldiers.

If there were Ming army strongholds around, they could cover each other, or at least pass on messages and summon reinforcements.

"Busan, North Korea or here, Jeju Island."

Liu Shouyou first pointed his finger towards Busan, then towards another large island west of Tsushima Island and said.

"Jeju Island, I remember it was a horse ranch and a place of exile in the previous dynasty."

Wei Guangde suddenly asked.

"Yes, Lord Wei, there was a horse farm here in the Yuan Dynasty, but after the founding of the country, Taizu gave it to Goryeo and asked them to offer horses every year. In fact, all the tribute horses came from this place."

After Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty, he set up the Darughachi General Administration Office and the Military and Civilian Pacification Office on Jeju Island. Initially, they were directly under the jurisdiction of the Secretariat, but later they were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Liaoyang Province.

So to be honest, Jeju Island was indeed incorporated into China's territory during the Yuan Dynasty.

However, after Zhu Yuanzhang expelled the Northern Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols on the island were naturally unwilling to submit to the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang did not want to send troops on a long expedition, so he simply issued an order to the King of Korea, asking them to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty with horses from Jeju Island every year.

Zhu Yuanzhang's order actually tacitly allowed Goryeo to occupy Jeju Island.

In the same year, Goryeo sent a large army to launch a war against Jeju Island, "beheaded three bandit leaders and sent their heads to the capital", and finally "Tamra's surrender began at this point", and Jeju Island became a part of Korea.

"Lubu."

Wei Guangde did not continue talking about Jeju Island, but shouted loudly to the outside.

Soon, Lu Bu entered the duty room and stood with his hands hanging down.

"Go to the Hongwu officials to ask for documents on horses used by Joseon to attack Jeju Island."

Wei Guangde ordered.

"It's just the horse."

Liu Shouyou immediately added.

"Well, send them to me if you find them."

Wei Guangde continued.

With a legitimate reason to go back to Jeju Island, Wei Guangde had to find out whether Zhu Yuanzhang had actually given Jeju Island away.

As long as it is not given in writing, there is a way to get it back.

We only allowed North Korea to go to the island to get the horses, but we didn't allow you to occupy it.

This is what Wei Guangde is planning.

It just so happened that the Ming Dynasty actually lacked horse farms. The Hetao area had not yet been controlled, and the Ming army did not actually have many horse farms to train war horses.

If we take back Jeju Island, we can not only provide mutual protection with Tsushima Island, but also gain a horse farm. (End of this chapter)