The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 352 Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Acting
Was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the regent of Japan, acting?

Are wars between nations decided by acting skills?
Wanli's idea seems a bit absurd and bizarre, but it is historical fact.

Perhaps, some people believe that Toyotomi Hideyoshi was able to unify Japan and even mobilize a large army to compete with the Ming Dynasty for hegemony in the Far East because of his personal strength.

In fact, this is not the case. He has the ability, but the main reason he can achieve such achievements is his acting skills, or rather his solid acting skills.

The comments of later Japanese historian Hiroshi Ikeuchi on him are a clear proof that Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a hero of all ages. The deeds of heroes cannot be explained by common theories. Their behavior is as wild as a horse and difficult for ordinary people to grasp.

This is a high-sounding statement.

To put it in a way that most people can understand, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a great actor, and his acting skills were as imaginative as a bird's eye view.

This can also be seen from the history of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's rise to power.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi came from a very humble background, so humble that he was not even qualified to have a surname.

In the 16th year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was born into a poor peasant family in Owari Province, Japan.

After he was born, his father was drafted into the army. He was injured and disabled on the battlefield and died shortly after returning.

This may be the fundamental reason why he later issued the Sword Hunting Order and promoted the separation of farmers and soldiers.

After his father passed away, his mother was unable to support him and his sister, so she had to remarry and take him and his sister with her.

As a result, he became even more miserable. His stepfather was a typical Japanese pirate with a brutal temperament. He disliked him very much and would beat him up at any time.

He was beaten so badly that he ran away from home at the age of thirteen and became a wandering vagrant.

If an ordinary person were to wander around at this age, he would most likely starve to death on the streets.

However, Toyotomi Hideyoshi showed amazing acting skills and somehow won the appreciation of the Totomi samurai Kahei and became a servant in Kahei's family.

This servant seemed to be a lowly job, but it saved his life, so he was very grateful to Kahei. After he unified Japan, he directly gave Kahei a territory of more than 30,000 stones, making Kahei a daimyo.

In the 33rd year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, at the age of 17, he returned to Owari Province and joined Oda Nobunaga as a servant, starting his career of conquering the world and his acting career officially began.

There are countless famous scenes where he performed brilliantly under Oda Nobunaga.

For example, it was not until the 39th year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty that he became a low-ranking samurai and became the head of the Ashigaru group, that is, the captain of a small group of conscripted men, and participated in the famous Battle of Okehazama.

He had only ten captured men under his command, who could not play any role in the war. However, he won the appreciation of Oda clan general Asano Nagakatsu with his explosive acting skills. Asano Nagakatsu even betrothed his only adopted daughter Nene to him!

He immediately made great success in the Oda clan by leveraging this relationship.

For example, in the tenth year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty, in the Honnoji Incident, Oda Nobunaga was killed by his general Akechi Mitsuhide, and the Oda clan fell into chaos.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi actually supported Oda Nobunaga's infant son Oda Nobutada as the head of the family, hoping to manipulate the emperor to control the princes.

The various lords of the Oda clan were naturally dissatisfied, and they all supported Oda Nobunaga's other sons to fight Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

The most powerful among them was Oda Nobuo, the second son supported by Tokugawa Ieyasu. With the combined efforts of the two, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was simply no match for them.

After Toyotomi Hideyoshi lost two of his generals in the battle against Tokugawa Ieyasu and was about to be defeated, he used his explosive acting skills to persuade Oda Nobuo and force Tokugawa Ieyasu to retreat!
He relied on his explosive acting skills and the power of the Oda clan to unify the entire Japan!
This guy's acting skills are so explosive that it's unimaginable.

The two Ming Dynasty wars to aid Korea in history are clear evidence of this.

The first time, that is, in the 20th year of Wanli, it was Li Rusong who took the initiative to propose peace talks after the bloody battle of Biti Pavilion.

However, he put forward seven humiliating conditions that the Ming Dynasty could never accept.

Many people don’t understand why he would take off his pants to fart and engage in fake peace talks.

He wasn't actually farting with his pants down, he was acting!

What happened between the Ming Dynasty and its vassal state Korea after the first peace talks was simply unbelievable.

On the Ming side, Yang Hao, a disciple of the cabinet chief Shen Yikuan, inexplicably took Li Rumei to launch a surprise attack on the Tuman territory, resulting in the loss of more than ten officers and hundreds of cavalry.

Immediately afterwards, Li Rusong inexplicably led his troops into the Tuman territory and was killed in battle.

In the vassal state of Korea, after the peace talks, the Prime Minister Liu Chenglong, who advocated resistance against the Japanese pirates, was falsely accused of colluding with the Japanese pirates and was dismissed from his post for investigation. The real person who had collusion with the Japanese pirates, Li Shanhai, was actually promoted again!

Moreover, Yi Sun-sin, who was promoted to Commander-in-Chief of Three Naval Forces for his meritorious service, was falsely accused of colluding with Japanese pirates and was dismissed and arrested, and was almost killed in prison!
You can understand this if you have watched the Battle of Myeongryang filmed by a Korean. The opening scene is the scene of the great hero Yi Sun-sin being tortured. The navy of the vassal state of Korea was reduced to only twelve warships and two or three hundred people.

It is obvious that Toyotomi Hideyoshi wanted to use his acting skills to get rid of Li Rusong, Liu Chenglong, Yi Sun-sin and other troublemakers and then make a comeback.

As a result, Li Rusong did not come to the second Ming Dynasty's war to aid Korea, but Shen Yiquan's disciple Yang Hao came and inexplicably caused the Ming Dynasty to lose nearly 30,000 elite troops in the Battle of Ulsan.

However, Toyotomi Hideyoshi still couldn't do it.

In fact, he will continue to act and ask for peace talks again, letting the Ming Dynasty and its vassal state, Korea, eliminate the troublemakers in World War II and make a comeback.

Unfortunately, he died before the second scene even started!
If he doesn't die, there will be a third, fourth, and fifth time, until he destroys the Ming Dynasty with his acting skills!

This is not a joke. The chief minister of the Ming Dynasty cabinet, Shen Yikuan, secretly colluded with the Japanese pirates. The Prime Minister of the vassal state of Korea, Li Shanhai, who was also the chief minister of the cabinet, also secretly colluded with the Japanese pirates. He can play this drama however he wants.

He wanted to use his acting skills to trap the main force of the Ming army and destroy the Ming Dynasty. Many people believed that after the two wars, the Japanese pirates had suffered heavy losses and were unable to fight again.

In fact, this is not the case. This is what Toyotomi Hideyoshi acted out.

After the two wars, the main force of the Japanese pirates did not suffer much loss.

This can be seen from the famous Osaka Winter Campaign that followed.

At that time, the Toyotomi clan still had 120,000 troops, and Tokugawa Ieyasu even led an army of 200,000 to attack Osaka.

That's more than 300,000. There are still many princes in Japan watching the show, and those guys haven't given their all.

In other words, the main force of the Japanese pirates did not suffer much loss after the two Korean wars.

If Toyotomi Hideyoshi had not died, there would have been a third, fourth, and fifth time, and each time Toyotomi Hideyoshi would have been able to mobilize 300,000 to 400,000 troops.

He just acted as if he had suffered heavy losses and was unable to fight again.

This old actor or old fox has been performing in Japan for more than 40 years.

The reason he was able to transform from a poor peasant of humble origins into a powerful figure who unified Japan was not because of his ability, but because of his acting skills.

If you take this old fox lightly, you will fall into his hands sooner or later.

Fortunately, Wanli knew the results of the two wars to aid Korea and was already on guard against this guy.

He knew very well that this battle between Ming Dynasty and Japan was not about strength, but about acting skills.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi wanted to use his acting skills to annihilate the main force of the Ming army in Korea, a vassal state.

He also wanted to use his acting skills to lure the main force of the Japanese pirates to his vassal state, Korea, and annihilate them.

So how does this scene play out?

On the tenth day of the sixth lunar month (Ji Hai), the envoys from the vassal state of Korea had not yet arrived in the capital, but an express message arrived from Liaodong Town, traveling eight hundred miles.

That evening, around 5 p.m., when it was getting dark, Wanli summoned Qi Jiguang to the hall where maps were placed.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli handed the urgent report to Qi Jiguang.

When Qi Jiguang took it and looked at it, he couldn't help but be shocked.

Luo Shangzhi had already sent his elite scouts on a naval speedboat to quietly investigate the northwest of the vassal state of Korea.

There was not a single Japanese pirate seen along the line from Anzhou, Dingzhou to Yizhou. It seemed that the Japanese pirates had no intention of attacking Yizhou!

Toyotomi Hideyoshi really wanted to lure their main force to the vassal state of Korea and annihilate them!

This time he couldn't even play anymore.

He really doesn't know how to play it when a war between countries is played out like this.

He frowned and pondered for a long time, then asked carefully: "Your Majesty, the Japanese pirates are probably setting an ambush. What should we do?"

You guessed it!

The Japanese pirates were indeed setting an ambush, and the ambush location was in the area of ​​Bitiguan!
If they sent a large army to support their vassal state, Korea, the Japanese pirates would fight and retreat, leading the main force of the army into an ambush circle in the Byeokjegwan area.

This is what they did in history, but Toyotomi Hideyoshi did not expect that the Ming army commander Li Rusong would be so powerful.

In other words, if they showed themselves to be too strong and made Toyotomi Hideyoshi feel that he could not defeat them this time, then Toyotomi Hideyoshi would immediately take the initiative to seek peace, retreat and wait for the opportunity to make a comeback.

This back and forth would take several years, and he didn't have time to waste time with Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Although Toyotomi Hideyoshi would die after five or six years, it would not make much sense.

Tokugawa Ieyasu was no pushover. If they took advantage of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death to attack Japan, they would be helping Tokugawa Ieyasu.

This guy will definitely be able to take advantage of the situation to integrate all the Japanese troops to defend the country with all their might!
In that case, his five or six years of waiting would have been in vain.

Therefore, this time we must rely on our acting skills to attract the main force of the Japanese pirates and annihilate them.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then said decisively: "We must hide our incompetence and pretend that we can't even gather enough troops to support Yizhou.

If the Japanese pirates refuse to attack Yizhou and wait for our army to attack, we will use our navy warships to pull people over and set fire everywhere, making the Japanese pirates furious.

Uh, arson?

Qi Jiguang was puzzled and said, "Your Majesty, if we only set fire and don't kill anyone, the Japanese pirates probably won't send reinforcements."

Wanli nodded slowly and said, "If we encounter Japanese pirates, we will naturally kill a few of them. However, we cannot kill them too harshly. We must pretend that we really do not have enough troops and can only use this method to delay time.

If Toyotomi Hideyoshi felt that our Liaodong forces were insufficient, he would probably send reinforcements, hoping to cross the river and penetrate Liaodong in one fell swoop, capture Shanhaiguan, and attack the capital."

Will Toyotomi Hideyoshi be fooled?
(End of this chapter)