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Chapter 400 Tokugawa Shogunate

"Your Majesty, by the end of Keicho's fifteenth year, there were 247 registered daimyo, including 39 imperial daimyo, 91 gendai daimyo, and 117 foreign daimyo." Otani Mitsuru did not stand up and sit down, but knelt down beside Hatano Shinji. First translate the emperor's question to Xin Er, and then translate Xin Er's answer to the emperor.

Daimyo are Japanese princes who occupy large areas of land and people, manage their own fiefdoms, and have military and law enforcement powers. A portion of the income is handed over to the emperor or shogun every year, and a certain number of troops or labor services are provided according to the income during wars.

In fact, Japan in the Edo period was the most typical feudal society. The emperor or shogun was the leader recognized by many princes. However, the emperor and shogun could only manage limited land and population. The rest were managed by princes, that is, feudal states. .

How to distinguish how much tax and military service the daimyo should pay? From the Muromachi period to the Warring States period, the Kanko system was adopted. The output of the territory is first converted into copper coin value, and then taxes and services are based on this.

After Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan for the most part, he developed a new calculation method called the Taikaku Land Survey. It roughly means to estimate the output of grain and various materials in the daimyo territory, and then convert them all into the unit of stone. Call the stone high.

For example, the Satsuma Domain has a daimyo of 60 koku, while the Hirado Domain only has more than 6 people. Comparing the two, the Satsuma Domain lags far behind in terms of territory area, land output, number of towns, population, etc.

The unit of volume or weight of stone is a bit like the economic index of later generations, such as GDP. It is a comprehensive economic indicator, which is not very accurate and only reflects a trend.

The titles of Yujiamen, Gushidai and Gaiye were created by Tokugawa Ieyasu after his victory in the Sekigahara Battle. The purpose was to distinguish the distant and near relatives and status of the princes.

The three sons of Tokugawa Ieyasu were entrusted to Owari, Kii and Mito, and were called the Gosan Family. They were similar to the Princes of the Ming Dynasty, but they had much greater power.

The daimyo derived from other relatives of the general were enfeoffed near the capital and were called Yujiamen. The Gosan family and the Gokami clan are collectively referred to as the kin-han daimyo, and they belong to the core of the Tokugawa shogunate's interest group, a bit like the imperial relatives of the Ming Dynasty.

The Shodai Daimyo were lords who sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu before the Sekigahara War. They were considered to have made a contribution to their support. Most of them were placed in territories relatively close to the Gyeonggi area with fertile land and rich products. They belonged to the Tokugawa Shogunate. backbone strength.

Most of the daimyos were lords who were enemies of Tokugawa Ieyasu and his faction before the Sekigahara War. After the defeat, they surrendered and submitted. There were quite a lot of them, and they couldn't be killed or trimmed, so they were split up or assigned to relatively remote and barren areas. They were raised in the territory and were closely monitored, and they were an unstable factor in the Tokugawa shogunate.

In the Tokugawa shogunate, important positions were basically held by the feudal lords and daimyos, and it was difficult for outside daimyo to get involved. However, the number of external daimyo is the largest, accounting for almost half of all daimyo, and some are quite powerful.

Therefore, mere exclusion and neglect could not reassure Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was afraid that one day the foreign lords would unite to oppose his rule, so he came up with two more methods, one of which was inheritance and development, and the other was suspected of plagiarism.

Let’s first talk about inheritance and development, which is called the homage and interrogation. What does that mean? Many mansions were built in Edo Castle, and the daimyo sent their wives as hostages to live there for a long time. The daimyo himself would come to Edo to meet the shogun every other year and stay for a period of time. Some daimyo had to live in Edo for a long time, which was called Dingfu. On average, half of the daimyo lived in Edo every year, and the other half lived in their respective territories, rotating back and forth.

What's the use of doing this? If the daimyo wanted to rebel, he could still do so as long as he left Edo Castle. As for using his wife as a hostage, it is even more nonsense.

According to Chinese culture, those who achieve great things cannot be affectionate, but must be ruthless. If Liu Bei and Liu Huang uncle had thrown away their wives less often, Cao Cao would have caught and chopped them long ago, and there would be no mention of the Three Kingdoms.

In fact, being a hostage is just a symptom. Spending money and food to attack the economy is the deeper sinister intention. Thanks to the shogunate transfer system, daimyo in various places only had to pay a fixed tax, and the rest could be used at their discretion without providing detailed accounts to the shogunate or asking for advice, including arming more troops.

The richer the daimyo became, the less confident the shogunate became, but he could not get the daimyo to hand over more money and food, so he came up with such an unethical method. Since the shogunate can't get the money and food, it can't let the daimyo have any leftovers and consume them all!

Transportation in ancient times was very inconvenient. As an aristocrat, you had to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to get to Edo Castle. You only had to live there for half a year and eight months. You couldn't take less people, and you couldn't take less food and drink. It was a gift for people and sophistication. Still can’t bring less.

Every time a daimyo went to Edo for pilgrimage, it was almost like moving house. Hundreds of people carried their luggage on their shoulders and stretched for more than ten miles. The wealthy daimyo could still afford it, while the poorer ones were about to go bankrupt, but they still had to go, otherwise it would be a serious sin.

Why is this method said to be inherited and carried forward? Because this model has existed since the Kamakura shogunate period, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi also did it in Osaka Castle when he came to power. Tokugawa Ieyasu just perfected it and it is gradually forming a kind of customization.

Let’s talk about plagiarism, it’s called the One Country, One City Order. The meaning is similar to the literal meaning. In each country (Daimyo territory), only one city is allowed to be used as a Daimyo residence, and the rest must be demolished.

This decree is somewhat familiar to Hong Tao. It cannot be said that Tokugawa Ieyasu completely copied it, at least it can be regarded as a reference. The emperor of China's Song Dynasty did this and demolished city walls and defensive buildings in many cities south of the Yellow River. This made it easier for the imperial imperial army to suppress local armed forces.

How should I put it, whether it was the Song Dynasty or Japan, this was a serious internal conflict and a waste of limited resources. But, under the constraints of productivity at the time, there seemed to be no other way to more effectively maintain rule if we didn't do this.

In a sense, making the rule stable can avoid many wars, and not being destroyed by war is a great contribution to the people. Of course, it's best to take development into account at the same time, otherwise war will soon come to your doorstep, and it's likely that the losing side will end up even more miserable.

But Tokugawa Ieyasu still felt that it was not too safe, so he came up with a strange trick to consolidate his rule. Oh no, it can’t be counted as his idea. He should learn from the practice of the Ming Dynasty across the sea and close the country in isolation!

(End of this chapter)