different warring states of japan

Chapter 2153 The Battle of Justice and Unjustice

This winter was particularly cold for Hideyoshi Ichijo.

The negotiations with the Celestial Empire ended in failure. Shen Weijing, who was in charge of the negotiations on the Celestial Empire side, was suddenly arrested and imprisoned by Emperor Wanli after returning to China. The negotiations between the Celestial Empire and the peninsula immediately came to a standstill.

Konishi Yukinaga, the head of the island nation, was confused and didn't know how to respond when Hideyoshi Ichijo repeatedly asked about the progress of the negotiations.

At this time, a special joint meeting of the Federal Reserve was held in Sakai Port, and representatives from all parties unanimously decided to enter a cycle of interest rate hikes from the beginning of spring.

The first interest rate hike was more than half a percent, and the cumulative interest rate hike was 30 percent several times. Loans were tightened, and the Spo food coupons on the market were recalled to maintain the value of the food coupons.

The samurai families of Nishijima Province, who had been obtaining cheap loans from Sasaki Dokura, were caught off guard and would soon face an increased interest burden.

What's even worse is that Sasaki also began to tighten loans, and the trick of using new debts to pay off old debts could no longer be played.

The war was fought for the Ichijo family, the money was earned for the Sasaki family, and the Nishijima Kunitake family had been busy for more than two years, but their own family had only seen deaths.

This thankless situation caused complaints from the samurai in Nishijima Province, and Hideyoshi Ichijo was under increasing pressure.

The last straw that broke Hideyoshi's back came in the spring.

In the early spring of the following year, Emperor Wanli sent an envoy from the Celestial Empire to the island country to confer titles on the country.

The delegation landed at Sakai Port, conferred the title of King of the island nation on Minamoto no Yoshigin in Kyoto, and bestowed upon him a golden seal.

According to the History of Ming Dynasty, Minamoto no Yoshigin fasted and bathed for three days, then went to the suburbs to welcome the envoy who came to grant him the title. He then received the title, bowed five times, kowtowed three times, and cheered to the crowd.

Sasaki Yoshikin accepted the Ming crown, court robes, and gold seal given by the Ming Dynasty, becoming the second king of an island country to be officially enthroned by the Celestial Empire after Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.

Interestingly, Emperor Wanli's enthronement was conditional on granting the title but not tribute.

In other words, the Ming Dynasty recognized the feudal lord Sasaki Yoshigin, but he was still not eligible to participate in the Kango trade.

Yoshikin Sasaki's request to the Celestial Empire to reopen the Kanko trade was handled vaguely by the Celestial Empire.

The envoy of the enthronement only brought an ambiguous message: the king of the island country was newly enthroned and had not made any achievements to establish himself, and His Majesty the Emperor was waiting and watching.

What was the Wanli Emperor waiting for? Sasaki Yoshikane knew it well.

So, after receiving a response from the Celestial Empire, the political action that Yoshikin Sasaki had been preparing for many days was finally fully launched.

As soon as the Celestial Empire's delegation left, the interim shogunate's spring meeting was held as scheduled.

During the meeting, all the United Front members unanimously passed a resolution and issued a statement severely condemning Ichijo Hideyoshi's unprovoked invasion of the peninsula, which led to a regrettable war between the Celestial Empire and the island country.

The Grand Council of Princesses strongly demanded that Hideyoshi Ichijo immediately stop the war, withdraw from the peninsula, unconditionally seek peace from the Celestial Empire, and maintain peace and friendship between the Celestial Empire and the island countries.

After the Grand Council reached a consensus, the provisional shogunate had a legal basis to take a tougher attitude towards Hideyoshi Ichijo and related samurai who started the war and restrict their behavior.

Including but not limited to logistics restrictions, personnel exchanges, tariff barriers and other obstructive measures, in order to put pressure on Hideyoshi to return to the path of peace as soon as possible.

After the closing of the Grand Review, the Federal Reserve's joint meeting was held again.

The delegates voted to elect the divine descendant Sanada family to be in charge of the new chairmanship of the Sawa Federal Reserve, and Sanada Nobushige recommended his retainer Kiyomi to serve as chairman.

The first thing Qinghai did after taking office was to announce to the public that the current pace of interest rate hikes was too slow and that the pace of interest rate hikes would be further accelerated, with the planned target of a 30% interest rate hike to be achieved by autumn at the latest.

This means that in the short six months from spring to autumn, the interest rate on the loans borrowed by Sasaki Dokura will rise from an average of 30% to an average of 60%.

The debt borne by the Nishijima Kingdom samurai under Ichijo's command is 30 million koku of grain coupons, and the annual interest payable will increase from 9 million koku to 18 million koku.

The total population of the island nation is 10 million, and the total shi of land is 20 million. The interest of 18 million shi almost reaches the total shi of land output of the island nation.

Not to mention repaying the principal, even if they forced the Nishijima Kunitake family to death, they couldn't even pay the annual interest.

As the news of the Spo Fed spread, the military family of Nishijima State was in an uproar.

From the Ming Dynasty's enthronement, to the Daipanyi, to the Sasaki Fed, Sasaki Yoshigin's political moves were to continuously tighten the rope around Hideyoshi's neck.

He was forcing Ichijo Hideyoshi step by step to stop the war and surrender to the Ming Dynasty unconditionally.

Now the ball has been kicked to Hideyoshi Ichijo. Facing huge internal and external pressures, what choice will Hideyoshi Ichijo choose?

---

In late spring, Ichijo Hideyoshi secretly recalled Ichijo Hidenaga, the general of the Ichijo Army that had invaded the peninsula, back to Nagoya.

Inside the house, two sisters sat opposite each other, with no third person present.

Ichijo Hidenaga said respectfully.

“Since the Ming army entered the peninsula and Pyongyang and Seoul changed hands, the fighting mainly took place in the four southern provinces of the peninsula.

This spring, our army launched the second Jinzhou Battle, and now Kato Kiyomasa has captured Jinzhou City. "

Hideyoshi Ichijo slammed the table and said.

"Good! Kato Kiyomasa lived up to my expectations and did a great job.

But why was Jinzhou so easy to change hands? They took this strong city in just one spring? Didn't the Celestial Peninsula send troops to support them?"

In response to Hideyoshi Ichijo's question, Hidenaga Ichijo, who had been on the front line of the peninsula, was very clear about the contradictions on the peninsula during the Ming Dynasty, so he explained.

"Since the Ming army entered the peninsula in large numbers, there have been widespread disagreements between the two sides of the Ming Dynasty on the peninsula over matters such as the speed of the march, logistical support, intelligence exchange, and the distribution of military merits.

Because of the confusion in intelligence, the Ming army was hesitant and unwilling to advance, while the peninsula was eager to recover their homeland and had been urging the Ming army to take action.

The Ming army had no choice but to advance, with most of its troops from the south defending important cities such as Pyongyang and Seoul, while its troops from the north were responsible for attacking southwards.

Because of our tight defense, the Ming army did not gain any advantage. The Northern soldiers had more horses and suffered heavy losses. It is said that the Ming army had lost more than 12,000 war horses, which caused the Northern soldiers to complain.

The southern soldiers were stationed in the rear and rarely made achievements, resulting in insufficient military rewards and many complaints.

There were already many disagreements between the northern and southern soldiers in the Ming army, and because of the uneven distribution of military merits, the rifts and conflicts grew day by day.

The Ming army and the ruler and ministers of the peninsula were also at odds. Both sides wrote letters to the Ming emperor to complain about the other side, making the situation very embarrassing.

It is only natural for our army to seize the opportunity and take advantage of the enemy's internal chaos to capture Jinzhou in one fell swoop."

Ichijo Hideyoshi nodded.

"I see." Taking advantage of the conflict between the Ming Dynasty and the peninsula, an army finally gained a foothold after retreating to the four southern routes of the peninsula and was not pushed into the sea by the Ming army.

This was originally a good opportunity to strengthen the defense line, but unfortunately...

Ichijo Hideyoshi sighed helplessly and asked slowly.

“Do you think there will be another large-scale war on the peninsula this year?”

Ichijo Hidena shook his head.

"impossible.

The Ming army and the emperor of the peninsula were not on good terms, so they had to mediate and reconcile through the Ming court and the emperor, which would take a lot of time.

We also captured Jinzhou City, blocking the Ming army's route to the south, and the Ming army became even more unwilling to take the risk of moving south.

The distance between Seoul and BJ is not close, and the lawsuit between the two parties was brought to BJ. It took at least half a year for the Ming Dynasty emperor to send people to appease and mediate.

By then it was already late autumn and the beginning of winter, which was not suitable for large-scale military operations. This year's war on the peninsula would most likely end in a stalemate, and there would be no large-scale fighting. At most there would be some minor frictions on the border."

This is what Hideyoshi Ichijo was waiting for. She stood up, walked in front of her sister and said solemnly.

"Xiu-Chang, I have something that concerns the survival of the Ichijo family. Please support me."

Ichijo Hideo was shocked and bowed.

"Everything I have was given by my sister. It is my responsibility to devote myself to my family."

Ichijo Hideyoshi nodded with satisfaction and whispered.

"There will be no major war on the peninsula this year. I want you to leave a small number of troops to garrison the city and transfer the main force of the army back to the island country."

Ichijo Hidenagaga asked.

"Repatriate? Are you asking the troops to return home to eat and reduce military consumption?"

Ichijo Hideyoshi smiled bitterly and shook his head.

“Once you put all the troops back, it will be hard to pull them out again.

The situation is not favorable to me now. Everyone has started to wait and see about me. At this time, we should firmly grasp their armies that are conquering outside.

put all one's eggs in one basket."

Ichijo Hidenaga looked at Ichijo Hideyoshi with a serious expression and bowed.

"Please give me your orders."

Ichijo Hideyoshi said coldly.

"The army will return to Nagoya Castle first, and then take a ship from Shimonoseki to Himeji Castle in Harima Province. I have already mobilized military rations there to ensure military supplies.

At the latest before the autumn harvest, I will go to Himeji Castle in person, lead the army into the Shiba territory, seek food from the enemy, and fight a decisive battle with Shiba Yoshikin."

By the time Hideyoshi Ichijo finished speaking, his face had become grim.

She couldn't sleep because of Sasaki Yoshigin's soft knife, and the families under Ichijo's command had already shown a tendency to become disunited.

If the army is released at this time, including the troops of Ryuzoji, Otomo, Mori, Shimazu, Chosokabe and other families, they may not necessarily wait and see.

The army's military supplies abroad could no longer be sustained due to the economic sanctions of the temporary shogunate, and the interest rate hike strategy of the Sawa Federal Reserve made things even more miserable for everyone.

If they continued like this, they would be dead, so Hideyoshi had no choice but to turn his guns around and charge into the Shiba territory to fight.

Ichijo Hidenaga naturally knew that the Ichijo family was in a bad situation. She was Ichijo Hideyoshi's biological sister, and the two of them were grasshoppers tied to the same rope.

Hideyoshi Ichijo wanted to take one last gamble, and Hidenaga Ichijo had no choice but to accompany her.

---

At the same time, he lived in a mansion in Duowen Mountain City.

Yiyin and Miyuki were sitting side by side on the corridor, and there was no one else present either, so Miyuki asked without hesitation.

“I don’t understand why father didn’t just charge into Ichijo’s territory, but chose to provoke Ichijo Hideyoshi with his sword.

Aren't you worried that the dog will jump over the wall when it is desperate? Or, why do you force the dog to jump over the wall instead of taking the initiative? "

Yiyin smiled.

  "Miyuki, do you know how many people have bought Hokuriku Road stocks and Shiba Real Estate, and stored their wealth in Shiba Tsuchiya's food coupons?

Not to mention the samurai under Sasaki, the former retainers of Oda, and the daimyo in the western province, how many of them did not secretly hide some wealth in Sasaki's territory.

They are risk-averse and want to keep a way out, and they welcome the peaceful development path of the Sōma family.

So, I cannot like battles and challenges.

The villain who started the war could only be Hideyoshi Ichijo.

Externally, I called on Ichijo Hideyoshi to stop the war, and raising interest rates and cutting off payments were only to stop the war.

I can't take the initiative to fight, so I can only force Hideyoshi Ichijo to take action first, which will be considered a righteous battle.

The island nation has been in turmoil for a hundred years, and the samurai have long been tired of war. Hideyoshi Ichijo's foreign aggression is unpopular, but I have been developing the economy.

This time, the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike has ignited a new round of economic crisis. If I start a war, the martial arts families in the world will definitely be disgusted.

But if Hideyoshi Ichijo started a war, all the blame would be on her.

It was she who started the war, it was she who ruined the domestic economy, and it was she who destroyed everything good.

I have no choice but to accept the challenge. This is a righteous battle. Only a righteous battle can make the majority of people stand on my side, make the doctrine of the Sasaki theocracy deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and make the country's fortune last long."

Miyuki shook her head helplessly.

"Father, you are so cunning."

(End of this chapter)