Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2291 Three-way Triumph () Enfeoffment after the War!

About a month after the change of ownership in Osaka, with the arrival of Gao Pragmatic's orders, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who ultimately won the Battle of Azuchi, held a post-war meeting. The name of this meeting is no longer important. Everyone knows that this is a meeting where Tokugawa Ieyasu made the final decision on punishment for the defeated Western Army on behalf of the Eastern Army.

After the smoke of the war cleared, the territorial structure of the various daimyo in Japan underwent tremendous changes. However, the territorial changes after the Azuchi War this time are similar to the territorial changes after the Sekigahara War in original history, but there are also many differences.

After the Battle of Sekigahara, Mori Terumoto, who ruled the six provinces of Aki and had a staggering 120 million koku of land, saw his land shrunk significantly after the war and transferred to Suo Nagato, where it dropped to 37 koku. Uesugi Kagekatsu was in a similarly grim situation, having moved from his Aizu territory in Mutsu to Yonezawa in Dewa, where his land dropped from 120 million koku to 30 koku.

In contrast, Shimazu Tadahashi's territories in Satsuma, Okuma, and Hinata were not greatly affected, and the stone height remained at about 60 koku. Maeda Tosunaga's territory remains unchanged, and the stone height has been re-evaluated to approximately 119 million stone. Date Masamune's territory increased slightly, and the stone height increased from 58 koku to 61 koku.

Many daimyo lost their territories due to defeat, and even suffered tragic fates such as exile and beheading. For example, Ukita Hideie, Nagasougabe Morichika, Konishi Yukinaga, Ishida Mitsunari and others had their territories confiscated and themselves met a tragic end.

It is worth mentioning that some daimyo successfully expanded their territories through their performance in war and post-war political operations. For example, Kato Kiyomasa, Mogami Yoshimitsu, Nagaoka Tadaki, Asano Yukinaga and others all had significant growth in their territory. Among them, the stone height of Kato Kiyomasa's territory soared from 25 koku to 52 koku, making him one of the daimyos with the most significant growth in territory after the war.

In addition, there are some daimyo territories whose stone heights have increased or decreased although they have remained unchanged. For example, the stone heights of the territories of Nabeshima Naoshima, Hori Hideharu, Kuroda Nagamasa, Hachisuka Shizhen and others have all been adjusted, but overall there is not much change.

But now, the Battle of Sekigahara has become the Battle of Azuchi, which lasted longer, caused more bloodshed on both sides, and cost more money and food. This means that many daimyo, both the daimyo of the Eastern Army and the daimyo of the Western Army, owe huge debts to the Jinghua Group.

There is no doubt that high-pragmatic aid is like the vast majority of "US aid" in later generations. It is said to be aid, but it is actually in the nature of loans, and most of them are paid and interest-bearing loans. Only a very small part is free aid or free aid. interest loan.

Because of this reason, and the fact that Jinghua Group has demonstrated its unparalleled financial and military power, no one dares to default on their debts. Clearly, then, everyone must "fully consider" Gao Pragmatic's plan to redistribute Japan after the war. Of course, Gao Pragmatic himself will definitely not be able to come, and Gao Yan is still young, so it cannot represent him. Therefore, the only person who attended the meeting on behalf of Gao Pragmatic was Ji Feiji.

To say "fully consider" is to save face. In fact, it means announcing a few major principles and then letting Tokugawa Ieyasu arrange the details. Gao Pragmatic believes that this old turtle is fully capable of implementing the details and can eliminate some hidden dangers as much as possible while keeping the general principles unchanged.

Narita Kai, this highly pragmatic concubine, finally has an official status this time: she has become the "royal representative", and her duty is to protect Osaka and the Toyotomi family's young lord Toyotomi Hideyori in the city.

What is a royal collar? According to Gao Pragmatic's order, Hideyori's territory was renamed "Royal Territory" from then on, and minor adjustments were made on the original basis. For example, the original "hiding place" of the Toyotomi family in Kyushu was changed from south of Bunzen. For the entire Hizen. The merger of Hizen made the power of the imperial leader stronger.

However, Gao Pragmatic's main purpose of doing this was to better control the whole of Japan. With Hizen in hand, Sasebo Naval Port came into being and became Jinghua's naval base on Kyushu Island in western Japan. From then on, Kyoka will have three important military ports in Japan, namely: Kinki Sakai Port Naval Base, Kanto Yokosuka Naval Base (Yokosuka is on the Miura Peninsula where Misaki Castle is located), and Kyushu Sasebo Naval Base.

By controlling the area with points, Jinghua now has three bases in the middle, east and west, from which it can quickly dispatch troops to quell any possible disturbances.

Then look at other important families.

The Shimazu family, a family that has long dominated Satsuma, Osumi, and Hyuga, has taken refuge with Gao Pragmatic a long time ago. Therefore, no matter what position they showed during the Battle of Azuchi, it was just to "complete the mission", so during the war Later, they continued to consolidate their position.

Not only that, Gao Pragmatic also transferred Higo and Bungo to them. These two fertile lands greatly expanded the Shimazu family's territory. Although it was not as good as the so-called heyday before Toyotomi Hideyoshi's "Kyushu Conquest", it was not far behind. Nowadays, their position in the west is as solid as a rock and no one can challenge it. The total stone height of their territory has jumped from 58 stones to 133 million stones, second only to Tokugawa Ieyasu in Japan.

It's not that Toyotomi Hideyori's "royal collar" has not been included here, but because Ieyasu had already rewarded Toyotomi Hideyori's territory step by step in the past few years, so it is now managed by Kafihime. The so-called royal collar, even if it is slightly increased through adjustment, is only about one million stones.

Kuroda Rusui, the daimyo who claims to be the last great military advisor of Japan's Warring States Period, originally controlled the land of Bunzen. After the war, because he was also Gao Pragmatic's internal agent who had been deployed for a long time, he worked closely together during the war and contributed a lot to Gao Pragmatic's "bond selling".

Therefore, he also received the great rewards of Chikuzen and Chikugo after the war, which expanded the territory of the Kuroda family to 740,000 koku, forming a huge sphere of influence. The rise of the Kuroda family has become a force that cannot be ignored in post-war Japanese politics, and has formed a situation where the north and the south stand side by side with the Shimadzu family on Kyushu Island.

Oh, you said that the Shimadzu family's 133 million koku and the Kuroda family's 74 koku are not considered equal? Well, consider Higo's "godou", which is right next to the Kuroda family.

The reason is actually very simple: if Kyushu Island really has two heroes coexisting, and the strength of both sides is basically the same, then it will be more difficult for Gao Pragmatic to control it. But if one of them is strong and the other is weak, then the weaker Kuroda family will have to cling tightly to Gao Pragmatic's thighs and seriously keep an eye on the Shimadzu family.

Then talk about Kato Kiyomasa, the former lord of Higo Kumamoto, who lost his original territory after the war because of his pragmatic rewards to the Shimadzu family. However, Gao Pragmatic did not abandon this important member of the Eastern Army. Gao Mingzong divided a part of the territory reduced by Mori Terumoto as Kato Kiyomasa's new territory.

Bingo, Bichu, and Mimasaku, these three connected lands are different from Higo, but they are equally rich. The total stone height is about 550,000 koku, which is an increase of 20% from Higo's 340,000 koku. As much as 110,000 stones.

There is no doubt that Gao pragmatically rewarded him generously. Of course, we must also thank Tokugawa Ieyasu for respecting and rewarding him, because Gao Pragmatic's original words were: "The stone was moved to the place where Kato Kiyomasa's seal was reduced by Mori, and the stone height is about 500,000 koku." Masanori Fukushima, the general who originally owned a territory of 240,000 koku in Owari Qingsu Castle, was transferred to Gao Pragmatic after the war. His new territory was similar to Kato Kiyomasa's, except that it was allocated from the territory reduced by the Uesugi family. Although the location has changed, the size of the territory has not decreased, and has even slightly increased. He obtained a territory of 320,000 koku in Mutsu.

Originally, according to a highly pragmatic view, Fukushima Masanori, as the leader of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's "Seven Guns of Cheap Mountain", should at least obtain territory equivalent to Kato Kiyomasa, but the situation in Kanto is slightly complicated.

To put it simply, the territory that can be awarded in Kanto is mainly the part reduced by Uesugi Kagekatsu, but there are a lot of daimyo who have made meritorious service in the Eastern Army and whose territory is located in the east. The Tokugawa family will definitely get a part of it, and then Masamune Date, Yoshimitsu Mogami and others will also get a part. Therefore, the territory that can be allocated is not enough, so we can only suffer from Fukushima Masanori.

The last one that changed a lot was the Narita family. This family once only owned a small Tamana Castle. After the war, it was transferred to the wealthy Owari due to the simplest issue of intimacy.

Well, it can’t be said that it’s just because of the close relationship. After all, when Kaiji made a surprise attack on Osaka, Gao Yunping’s left and right lieutenants were all from the Narita family. The Narita family sent more than 2,000 troops. Even though they didn’t fight any big battles, Sometimes the credit does not depend on whether the battle was fierce or not, but on the strategic value brought by victory in the battle. Therefore, the Narita family also made a big mark in their credit book this time.

Their new territory, the Owari area, is not simple. It is the place where Oda Nobunaga started. Although Owari has gone through many things and his status today has declined slightly compared to Nobunaga's period, it is still important. According to the information Gao Pingshi knows, Owari today has a population of more than 900,000, and an Ishiga of about 600,000 koku (Fukushima Masanori originally only obtained Qingshu City and its surroundings, not the entire Owari).

It can be said that by acquiring the entire Owari 600,000 koku from a mere Tamana Castle, the Narita family almost reached the sky in one step and became one of the most famous names in Japan.

Of course, Gao Pragmatic let the Narita family take over Owari not only to reward the "relatives" of the Narita family, but more importantly because he valued Qingshu Bay as a place. This is a commercial and trade town that has been built by Oda Nobunaga. Controlling it in the hands of the Narita family is equivalent to controlling it in the hands of Jinghua, which is very helpful for Gao Pragmatic to control Japan through the power of trade.

At the same time, Owari's location can basically be seen as being between Osaka and Edo. This is obviously a strategic location - if there is any change in the Tokugawa family, Owari will be of great use.

As for Tamana Castle, the original territory of the Narita family, there is no doubt that it has now been converted into a "royal territory". In name, it is directly under the management of the Toyotomi family. In fact, it is just connected with the Miura Peninsula (Misaki Castle) that Kyouka originally controlled. one slice.

Of course, now the entire Miura Peninsula, including Misaki Castle, has been converted into an "imperial leader" in name. Gao Pragmatic doesn't care about the name. Anyway, Toyotomi Hideyori is already in his hands, and his "imperial collar" is actually Kyoka's "imperial collar". collar".

Finally, it’s time to talk about Tokugawa Ieyasu. Similar to the original history, Ieyasu's territory also increased significantly. He had a huge territory of 250 million koku before the war, and this time it was directly expanded to 400 million koku. He is undoubtedly the number one name in Japan.

However, these territories, whether before or after the war, were not entirely under the direct control of Ieyasu himself, and quite a few of them were the territories of his generals. For example, the famous "Four Tokugawa Kings" under his command were all divided directly from Ieyasu's territory and enfeoffed. However, there are too many people under Ieyasu who own territories, so I won’t list them all here.

In short, the territory Ieyasu gained after the war this time was actually slightly less than in the original history (after all, after Kyoka intervened, he pretended to occupy part of it under the guise of the Toyotomi family's imperial commander), but he still gained a lot.

I don’t know if it was because he wanted to give up his position as head of the family to his adopted son Gao Yan in the future. Tokugawa Ieyasu actually divided the family in advance before establishing the Edo shogunate this time. In the original history, he also divided the family, such as doing "Yu Sanjia" or something like that came out.

It's the same this time, but the time is slightly earlier, and since Ieyasu's establishment of the shogunate still requires some time to prepare, the name of the "Gosanjia" has not yet appeared, but the enfeoffment of the territory itself has been completed, which is basically consistent with the original history. , I won’t explain them one by one.

However, there is a problem that needs to be explained here, and that is why Gao Pragmatic retained Toyotomi Hideyori while allowing Ieyasu to establish the shogunate. Some people may ask, doesn’t this conflict?

Yes, there is no conflict. In other words, there is no conflict between Toyotomi Kouki and the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Toyotomi Kōki was actually a system of combined public and military affairs created by Toyotomi Hideyoshi that dominated Japan. By creating the unprecedented "Buka Sekibai Family" whose family status is equivalent to the Gosei family, and then widely giving the Toyotomi surname and Hashiba Nae characters to Japan's powerful daimyo, and then using his status as the elder of the Toyo family to influence daimyo all over Japan. to rule indirectly.

In the era of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, if the samurai who were included in the Toyo clan throughout Japan wanted to obtain official positions in the imperial court, they had to be recommended by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the elder of the Toyo clan himself. So after Hideyoshi's death, theoretically the recommender became his successor Toyotomi Hideyori.

As for the Edo Shogunate, also known as the Tokugawa Shogunate, it was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Although in the original history (before Hideyori's death) it had actually controlled Japan politically, it was still nominally based on the rule of the emperor, and Toyotomi Gongyi represented the emperor's authority to a certain extent. Therefore, nominally speaking, the status of Toyotomi Kōki was higher than that of the Edo shogunate.

Of course, this does not mean that the Edo shogunate had no actual power. In fact, the Edo shogunate used a series of political and military means, such as the participation system and the universal invitation system, to effectively control each vassal and ensure its dominance across the country.

In other words, after the establishment of the Edo shogunate, the shogunate held real power, but in name it was still Toyotomi Kōiki.

The situation is different now, and Gao Pragmatic has created a "royal representative" for Toyotomi Gongyi. This "royal generation" is actually the regent of Toyotomi Kōki, and is somewhat similar to the "managing leadership" of the former shogun after he lost his real power. In short, they all perform the duties of "representative" and "escrow".

Now setting up this position is, on the one hand, to reassure the old general Toyotomi, so as not to arouse dissatisfaction among the people, and on the other hand, it is also to maintain deterrence against Ieyasu. In addition, this also gives Ieyasu another hope: since the "royal representative" is Narita Kai, and Narita Kai is Takanoki's biological mother, does this mean that after Takanomo becomes the shogun in the future, the "royal representative" will also be handed over to him? In his hands?

Stick and carrot, neither one can be missing.