The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 435: The Warring States Period in Japan

Wanli asked Mori Terumoto to instigate Tokugawa Ieyasu to rise up in rebellion, and Mori Terumoto seemed to have succeeded.

However, Tokugawa Ieyasu did not send troops first. Instead, he wrote a letter to invite Uesugi Kagekatsu, Date Masamune and Gamo Ujisato to send troops together!
This is a bit confusing.

It is understandable that Mori Terumoto wrote a letter inviting Tokugawa Ieyasu to join forces to attack Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

After all, Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were sworn enemies. Even if Tokugawa Ieyasu did not want to send troops for the time being, he would not sell out Mori Terumoto, an ally who came to him.

It is a bit hard to understand why Tokugawa Ieyasu directly wrote a letter to invite Uesugi Kagekatsu, Date Masamune and Gamo Ujisato to join the army.

Any one of these three people who is unwilling to join him in the battle against Toyotomi Hideyoshi is likely to betray him.

Because this is a question of choosing sides. If you don't want to join forces with Tokugawa Ieyasu, you have to quickly choose Toyotomi Hideyoshi, otherwise you will be isolated and helpless if Tokugawa Ieyasu sends troops to attack you in anger.

Tokugawa Ieyasu seemed not to understand this logic, and he rashly wrote a letter inviting the three of them to join the army.

Uesugi Kagekatsu seemed to understand this logic. After receiving the letter, he quickly reported it to Toyotomi Hideyoshi to show that he was on Toyotomi Hideyoshi's side.

Date Masamune seemed to understand this logic as well. After receiving the letter, he quickly replied, put forward his own conditions, and expressed his willingness to join the expedition.

Gamo Ujisato seemed to not understand this logic. This guy didn't react at all and didn't choose Tokugawa Ieyasu or Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

So, who doesn’t understand?
Actually it was Uesugi Kagekatsu!
Because he didn't see the situation clearly.

He probably thought that the Ming Dynasty was a country of etiquette and would not attack the Japanese mainland, and the current ruler of Japan was Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Tokugawa Ieyasu was just a local lord and his strength was definitely not as good as Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

The facts seem to be true. Toyotomi Hideyoshi himself seems to have more troops than Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Mori Terumoto, who ranks third in strength, never disobeys Toyotomi Hideyoshi's orders. Maeda Toshiie, who ranks fourth in strength, is even a close friend of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and will definitely stand on Toyotomi Hideyoshi's side.

The two most powerful families in Japan all stood on Toyotomi Hideyoshi's side. In addition, Toyotomi Hideyoshi himself was one of the three families. It was three against one. How could Tokugawa Ieyasu win?

That's a bit superficial.

He only saw the surface and didn't think deeply.

Would Tokugawa Ieyasu have rashly written a letter to invite them to join the army without any confidence?

This is the key point.

During the more than one hundred years of the Warring States Period in Japan, there were countless cases of intrigue and deception.

If you rashly choose sides without seeing the situation clearly, you will die miserably.

Date Masamune saw the situation clearly, so he chose to stand with Tokugawa Ieyasu without hesitation.

Gamo Ujisato may not have seen the situation clearly, or may not have figured out why Tokugawa Ieyasu was so confident, so he did not rashly choose sides.

These two people are the ones who understand.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was also a wise man.

He knew Tokugawa Ieyasu's temperament very well.

Ever since he was tricked by him, Tokugawa Ieyasu had been subservient to him and endured for so many years, but he was not really submissive to him.

This guy wasn't sure he could knock him down with one blow, so he didn't make a move.

The relationship between the two of them is like that between Yan Song and Xu Jie during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. When Yan Song was in power, Xu Jie endured it until he was sure that he would take action to overthrow Yan Song.

During the Jiajing reign of the Japanese invaders, countless officials in the Ming court collaborated with them. He naturally knew this story.

He is the Yan Song in power, and Tokugawa Ieyasu is the Xu Jie who has been forbearing.

If Tokugawa Ieyasu dared to write a letter to invite Uesugi Kagekatsu, Date Masamune and Gamo Ujisato to join in the uprising, it meant that he was confident that he could defeat him.

Therefore, he immediately disregarded everything and ordered Mori Terumoto to send troops to attack Iki Island in order to lure the Ming Dynasty to attack.

This is his final madness, risking his life to survive!
It seemed that Mori Terumoto still did not dare to disobey his orders as usual. This guy actually mobilized hundreds of warships and took all the artillerymen to attack Iki Island.

As a result, the Ming army seemed to have too many warships, and Mori Terumoto's troops were unable to defeat them at all, so they had to quickly flee back to Kitakyushu.

This is not important. The key is Ming’s reaction next.

Will the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty become angry and humiliated? Will the Ming Dynasty send troops to attack the Japanese mainland?

If not, try again!
Toyotomi Hideyoshi was just that crazy.

His madness seemed to scare even Tokugawa Ieyasu.

When Tokugawa Ieyasu heard that Mori Terumoto had followed Toyotomi Hideyoshi's orders to attack Iki Island, he seemed to stop the attack immediately.

This guy is also waiting for Ming's reaction.

In fact, before taking action, Mori Terumoto wrote a letter to Tokugawa Ieyasu.

This guy actually pretended that he was using this to test the Ming Dynasty and see whether the Ming Dynasty had any intention of attacking the Japanese mainland.

Tokugawa Ieyasu naturally would not object. If the Ming Dynasty did not attack after such a test, he could rest assured.

I have to say that he was indeed cautious enough, but he probably never dreamed that this guy Mori Terumoto was the traitor!
So, how will the Ming Dynasty react?

The Ming emperor seemed confused. He didn't know what was wrong with Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Mori Terumoto, and suddenly sent troops to attack Iki Island.

Wanli directly ordered people to reiterate in the new issue of the Japanese tabloid that the Ming Dynasty, a country of etiquette, really did not want to start a war easily.

Japan's inexplicable violation of the consensus this time is really a bit strange. The Ming Dynasty has not suffered any losses. Let's let it go this time. I hope there won't be a next time!

What this means is that the Ming Dynasty really does not want to attack the Japanese mainland, so please stop provoking the Ming Dynasty.

When Toyotomi Hideyoshi saw the new issue of a Japanese tabloid, his face turned pale with horror.

It's over. This gave Tokugawa Ieyasu a reassurance.

Sure enough, when Tokugawa Ieyasu saw the new issue of the Japanese tabloid, he immediately sent a letter to all the daimyos in Japan, blatantly denouncing Toyotomi Hideyoshi for wanting to provoke a war between Japan and the Ming Dynasty for his own selfish interests.

If Toyotomi Hideyoshi is allowed to continue ruling the country, it will destroy the entire Japan. Let's send troops together and quickly drive this guy out of power!
This was just what he did openly. In secret, he also wrote secret letters to Mori Terumoto, Date Masamune and Gamo Ujisato.

The letter that Tokugawa Ieyasu wrote to Date Masamune meant that he should quickly gather his troops and prepare to join forces with him to deal with Uesugi Kagekatsu.

When Date Masamune received the letter, he immediately began to gather troops because Uesugi Kagekatsu was his mortal enemy.

If he was sending troops to attack Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he might have hesitated, but he would not hesitate at all when attacking Uesugi Kagekatsu.

Tokugawa Ieyasu included a letter written by Mori Terumoto in his letter to Gamo Ujisato!

What this means is that Mori Terumoto took the initiative to invite him to join forces to deal with Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Do you want to gather your troops and join me in dealing with Uesugi Kagekatsu first?

When Gamo Ujisato saw that Tokugawa Ieyasu relied on Mori Terumoto, he began to gather troops without hesitation.

The situation is already very clear. The combined strength of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Mori Terumoto is stronger than the combined strength of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Maeda Toshiie. What's more, Maeda Toshiie may not necessarily sacrifice his life to help Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

It is obvious that Tokugawa Ieyasu has a great chance of winning. If he stands on Tokugawa Ieyasu's side, Tokugawa Ieyasu's chance of winning will be even greater. Naturally, he will quickly stand on Tokugawa Ieyasu's side.

The meaning of the letter that Tokugawa Ieyasu wrote to Mori Terumoto was to let Mori Terumoto first gather a large army to threaten Toyotomi Hideyoshi's west. He wanted to deal with Uesugi Kagekatsu before attacking Toyotomi Hideyoshi's territory.

This is a bit of intrigue.

He did not send troops to attack Toyotomi Hideyoshi first, but let Mori Terumoto go first. Isn't this just letting Mori Terumoto fight with Toyotomi Hideyoshi first, so that he can reap the benefits?
Is Mori Terumoto so stupid?
Under normal circumstances, Mori Terumoto would not be so stupid.

But, things are not normal now.

He is also the most abnormal person in the whole of Japan.

This guy actually gathered an army of 100,000 and stationed them in the west of Inaba Province, as if he was going to attack Toyotomi Hideyoshi!

When Tokugawa Ieyasu received the news, he immediately joined forces with Date Masamune and Gamo Ujisato to besiege Uesugi Kagekatsu.

Uesugi Kagekatsu naturally quickly asked Toyotomi Hideyoshi for help.

Will Toyotomi Hideyoshi come to rescue this fool?
(End of this chapter)