Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 240: Winter Battle in Osaka (Part 1)
Although history has been changed a lot by the seven time travelers, the extent to which different time travelers have changed history is completely different.
The stronger ones, such as the twins in Spain, are now single-handedly resisting the siege of Western European countries and the Ottoman Empire - the course of European history has undergone major changes. Another example is Zhu Youdong of the Ming Dynasty, who has already destroyed Jianzhou, not only clearing a major hidden danger for the Ming Dynasty, but also starting to remove the chronic disease of the Ming Dynasty for many years. The third one, Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire, is now gradually recovering from the disadvantage in the Mesopotamian Basin and slowly pushing the Persians out of the empire's territory. The third one, Siam is now the hegemon of the Indochina Peninsula.
However, apart from the time traveler from the Indian Peninsula who did almost nothing, the one who had the least impact on his country's history was this time traveler from Japan.
Due to the suppression of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the time traveler did not have the courage to let the old turtle go to see Amaterasu earlier. Therefore, although he climbed some technology trees in Japan over the years, he also persuaded Tokugawa Ieyasu to start a new navy by taking advantage of the fact that the Shimazu navy was beaten by Li Guozhu. However, the real large-scale enrollment school was not established, the talent training was not systematic, and the overall technology tree could not be climbed. Even the Toyotomi family still lived until 1614 according to the inertia of history.
Originally, according to Tokugawa Ieyasu's inner thoughts, he did not want to kill all the Toyotomi family: the world was already peaceful, and the Tokugawa family was trying to use Song and Ming Neo-Confucianism to suppress all kinds of inexplicable thoughts that emerged in the country during the Warring States Period, and they strongly advocated loyalty - how could those who rule the world not advocate loyalty?
But in this case, you can't be too harsh on the Toyotomi family: although this family is now in decline, Tokugawa Ieyasu was a vassal of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and one of the five elders of the Toyotomi family. You took advantage of the old master's death and the young master's young age to steal the world to your own family. If you kill orphans and widows, wouldn't the loyalty advocated by your Tokugawa family be a joke?
Therefore, after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, the Tokugawa family had only one attitude towards the Toyotomi family: surrender to me, move out of Osaka Castle, and then everyone can live a good life.
The Toyotomi family’s attitude is: Surrender is fine, but moving is absolutely not allowed!
This kind of wrangling, which cannot be made public, has been going on for 14 years.
By 1614, Tokugawa Ieyasu was 71 years old and his health was not as good as before. He finally lost patience with the Toyotomi family who were reluctant to accept the transfer and leave Osaka Castle. Many of the original sympathizers of the Toyotomi family, such as Kato Kiyomasa and Matsudaira Hideyasu, had passed away. The wise general Sanada Masayuki who played tricks on Tokugawa Hidetada on Nakasendo Road had also passed away. So, on the one hand, his body could not wait any longer, and on the other hand, the opponent's strength was constantly declining.
Then do it! While you are still alive, finish what you should do and don't leave trouble for your descendants.
In July 1614, the Tokugawa side, led by Ishin Soden and Hayashi Razan, interpreted an inscription on the bell of the Toyotomi family that was used to rebuild the Hokoji Temple in Kyoto. The inscription said "national well-being" and "prosperity and happiness of the ruler and his subjects", which was considered to be a curse on the Tokugawa family by separating Ieyasu's name and praying for the prosperity of the Toyotomi family. Therefore, they demanded that the author of the bell inscription be punished, and that the Toyotomi family apologize, return the territory, and be transferred to Yamato Province (Nara Prefecture).
This was essentially a request for the Toyotomi family to move, but of course they would not agree - they should have moved long ago. Why wait until now?
This time, Tokugawa Ieyasu did not act like before, saying, "If you don't move, we will continue to argue." Instead, he issued an order from the shogun: All daimyo in the world, lead your troops to concentrate in Settsu Province. This time, the shogun will completely destroy the Toyotomi family!
At this time, Japan was still an agricultural country. Therefore, the strength of the shogunate and the daimyo was still reflected in the koku. Specifically, in 1614, the koku of Japan was about 20 million koku. The koku of the Tokugawa shogunate was more than 4 million koku, and the koku of the daimyo of the Tokugawa family (non-heirs of Ieyasu) was about 3 million koku.
Since the Onin War, Japan has never had such a strong shogun, who controlled more than one-third of the country's land. Therefore, at this time, the daimyo of Japan had no interest in speaking for the Toyotomi family. After receiving the order from Ieyasu, daimyo such as Uesugi Kagekatsu, Date Masamune, Maeda Toshitsugu, Shimazu Tadatsune, etc., without exception, honestly recruited farmers in their own territories, and under the leadership of their samurai, gathered towards Settsu Province where Osaka Castle was located.
As for the Tokugawa family, the shogun directly mobilized 50,000 troops. Each of the vassal lords also mobilized 30,000 troops, plus the troops of other daimyo. By November 1614, the Tokugawa side had a total of 160,000 troops.
What about the Toyotomi family? After the bell inscription incident at Kyoto's Hokoji Temple, the pro-war faction in Osaka Castle completely gained the upper hand. They also began to issue notices to the daimyo of the world, asking them to bravely stand up and safeguard the justice of the world for the sake of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's kindness in the past...
Such an appeal is of course useless. The daimyo at that time had managed to preserve their family business in the chaotic world for hundreds of years. Now the Tokugawa family is sweeping in with the army of all Japan, and your Toyotomi family is left with only the isolated castle of Osaka. It is only a matter of time before they fall. Who would be willing to sacrifice all their family members and territories to be buried with you for the sake of justice?
"Yan-san, you are right. Not a single daimyo has responded to Lord Hideyori's call! It's a pity that when Taiko was alive, he took good care of so many daimyo, but now these guys have all forgotten Taiko's kindness!"
"Isn't this obvious, Ohno-kun? However, after your golden ban was spread out, quite a few ronin from various places gathered here, right?"
"Yan Sangming, see Wanli, currently, there are nearly 80,000 ronin gathered in Osaka Castle. Together with the soldiers in the Toyotomi family's own territory, we can gather an army of 100,000."
"It's useless to have a lot of soldiers. We need a capable general to lead them."
"Don't worry, Yan-san. In addition to the 80,000 ordinary ronin, there are also famous generals such as Sanada Yukimura, Goto Mototsugu, Chosokabe Morichika, Akashi Zento, and Mori Katsunaga. We will let these famous generals lead these ronin."
"Well, Ohno-kun, listen to my advice. As the saying goes, don't employ a person you doubt, and don't doubt a person you employ. Those who dare to enter Osaka Castle under such circumstances don't take their lives seriously. Use such people with confidence. Don't think of hindering them. Your side is not as strong as the Tokugawa family. If you still can't let go , then there is really no need to fight this battle."
"Hey, I will definitely remember Yan Sang's teachings. But Yan Sang, when will that highness from the Celestial Empire send reinforcements?"
"Ah? Haha, my prince is currently busy selecting concubines in the country, so we have to put off sending out troops."
"Ah? Choosing a concubine! Yan Sang, our Japanese women are very good. This..."
"Let's talk about this later, Mr. Ohno. I still say the same thing: Taiko invaded Korea and fought with the Ming Dynasty for six years. Therefore, it is definitely impossible for the Ming Dynasty to help you in an official capacity. However, my fleet and the fleet of Li Guozhu, the eldest son of the old ship owner , can help you in a private capacity to ensure the safety of the sea passage to Osaka Castle. However, since we are going on a private expedition, the Ming Dynasty court will not give us travel expenses."
"Hey, hey, that's easy to say. Yan-san, please name your price."
"Ahahaha~~ Let's talk about the price later, Ohno-kun. What you need to do now is to quickly take out the cement I brought to you over a month ago and reinforce the defense of Osaka Castle!"
…
In early November 1614, Zhu Youdong, who had just finished selecting his concubine, received an urgent report from Yan Siqi. Then Zhu Youdong ordered: Chongming Sand Fleet and Fujian Funing Guard Fleet, all troops should be ready!
