Having become acquainted with the armor of the Sengoku era, we again return to the personalities. And again, the life and fate of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who eventually became … a deity, passes before us. But in life it so happens that happiness and unhappiness in it constantly go hand in hand.
In 1579, on the orders of Oda Nobunaga, Ieyasu was forced to execute his wife, and he offered his eldest son to commit seppuku. The reason is suspicion of a conspiracy against his father and a secret conspiracy with the Takeda clan. The history of this tragedy is shrouded in darkness. Some believe that all this was deliberately set up to blacken Ieyasu in the eyes of Nobunaga, others that he had reason to doubt the loyalty of Sena's son and wife. Be that as it may, Nabunaga showed his power: at his insistence, Ieyasu ordered his son to execute his wife and commit suicide himself. Sena was killed by one of the samurai Ieyasu. After that, he proclaimed his third son, Hidetada, as his heir, and the second was adopted by the preoccupied continuation of his kind Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Tokugawa Ieyasu on the Battlefield of Sekigahara. Rice. Giuseppe Rava.
But the military campaign of Oda and Tokugawa against the Takeda clan, which began in February 1582, was more than successful. A month after the outbreak of hostilities, Takeda Katsuyori, having lost his finances, allies and military generals, with his wives and children, committed seppuku, after which the Takeda clan ceased to exist. For this Ieyasu received the province of Suruga from Oda.
Saihai commander's rod. Probably Ieyasu Tokugawa also used it. (Anne and Gabrielle Barbier-Muller Museum, Dallas, TX)
In May 1582, Ieyasu went to the residence of Oda Nobunaga - the luxurious and large Azuchi Castle. And Nobunaga received him as a dear guest and personally (!) Served him at the table, which, I think, scared him to death. Tokugawa was glad that when this visit was over, he was still alive and, with joy, went to inspect the commercial port city of Sakai. It was there that he learned about the rebellion of Akechi Mitsuhide and the death of Nobunaga at the Honno-ji temple. And here Ieyasu again had a very hard time. After all, after being admitted to Azuchi, he was considered almost the right hand and favorite of Nobunaga, and it is not surprising that Akechi decided to kill him! And it was not very difficult to do this, since Ieyasu was in foreign territory and did not have a sufficient number of warriors at hand. But Tokugawa hired a squad of ninja from the Iga province, and they led him on secret mountain trails to Mikawa. Immediately upon his return, Ieyasu began to gather troops against Akechi Mitsuhide. By defeating the impostor, he would become the de facto heir to Oda Nobunaga. But then Hashiba Hideyoshi, who defeated the rebels at the Battle of Yamazaki, was ahead of him.
Dzindaiko is a "war drum" that the Japanese used to transmit signals on the field. As you can see, it also has a clan emblem! (Anne and Gabrielle Barbier-Muller Museum, Dallas, TX)
However, it was not enough to avenge Oda's death. The fact is that at the local level, his administration, which did not respect local customs, was hated and, taking advantage of the opportunity, was immediately killed. So, in a number of provinces, a dangerous "anarchy" or the power of very small daimyos arose, which of course was intolerable for large daimyo.
The classic o-yoroi armor, restored in the 18th century. Already in the days of Ieyasu Tokugawa, no one wore such armor, but they flaunted in daimyo castles, demonstrating their nobility. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Ieyasu immediately moved to lead the disobedient to … obedience. But at the same time, he took into account local traditions. And most importantly, he showed respect for the late Takeda Shingen, although he was his worst enemy. Seeing this, many commanders and advisers of the deceased Takeda clan went to the service of Ieyasu, who, in addition, promised them the return of the lands given to them by Shingen. Naturally, they do not look for good from the good, and yesterday's enemies immediately swore an oath of loyalty to him.
The same armor, rear view. Noteworthy is a huge bow made of agemaki cords. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Helmet and mask from this armor. The horns on the helmet - kuwagata are removed.
True, the Uesugi and Go-Hojo clans also coveted the lands of Oda. Their troops entered three provinces, which Ieyasu already considered his own, and he had to start a war with them again. But fate here, too, favored the future deity, so that most of the land of the Takeda clan went to Ieyasu Tokugawa. So in the end, under his rule were the provinces of Kai, Shinano, Suruga, Totomi and Mikawa.
A lot of samurai armor has ended up in various museums around the world. But it is clear that for the most part this is just armor of either the Sengoku and Edo eras. (Royal Arsenal, Copenhagen)
Now it was necessary to begin preparations for war with the impudent peasant Hasiba Hideyoshi, who already in 1583 defeated the forces of all oppositionists who opposed him and became the actual successor of the Nobunaga cause. Dissatisfied, and they are always there, only keep silent for the time being, they immediately declared him a usurper and offered Ieyasu an alliance. And he agreed, which led him to a war against Hideyoshi.
Infantry Helmet - Jingasa. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
In March 1584, the combined forces of Tokugawa and Hideyoshi met on the lands of Owari province. Moreover, Hideyoshi had 100 thousand people, but the forces of the Tokugawa and his allies did not exceed 50 … Nevertheless, in the battle of Haguro on March 17, 1584, Hashib Hideyoshi's cumbersome and poorly controlled army could not defeat Ieyasu. Hideyoshi was so frightened by the military genius of Ieyasu that he stopped the attacks and took up a defensive position. But then his patience ran out, and he sent a detachment of 20,000 men under the command of his nephew Hasiba Hidetsugu against the Tokugawa. The Battle of Komakki-Nagakute took place and in it Ieyasu not only defeated the enemy army, but also forced its commander to flee from the battlefield in disgrace.
Byo-kakari-do armor - that is, with an okegawa-do cuirass, on which the heads of the rivets are visible. Typical armor of the Sengoku era. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York).
Then Hasiba Hideyoshi attacked Ieyasu's ally Oda Nobuo, defeated him and in November 1584 forced him to sign a peace treaty with him, and admit his vassalage. Ieyasu saw that he was losing allies in this way, "remembered" that he and Hideyoshi both faithfully served Nobunaga, and immediately concluded a truce with the enemy. Moreover, he sent his grandson hostage to Hideyoshi. That is, he recognized the dominant position of the latter, and formally he continued to remain independent.
Akechi Mitsuhide. Uki-yo Utagawa Yoshiku.
It ended with the fact that now a quarrel began between his own vassals. Some demanded that Ieyasu continue to fight Hideyoshi, while others demanded that he recognize his suzerainty. Thus, Ieyasu found himself in an extremely difficult situation: his vassals began to get out of his power, and here on the nose there was a new war with Hideyoshi. He, however, was in no hurry to fight, and in April 1586 he married his sister Asahi to Ieyasu. Tokugawa accepted a new wife, but did not recognize his vassalage. Then Hideyoshi decided to take extreme measures: in October of the same year, he sent his mother to Ieyasu as a hostage, asking for only one thing - to recognize his suzerainty.
And Tokugawa thought, thought, remembered the Japanese proverb - "that which bends, can straighten", and agreed to recognize the supremacy of Hashiba. On October 26, 1586, he arrived at his residence in Osaka, and the very next day, during an audience with Hideyoshi, he bowed down to him and officially asked him to accept him "under the strong hand of the Hasiba clan." That is, he bowed down in front of the "peasant", whom he did not respect, and he simply hated, of course, but … he gave credit to his intelligence and strength and believed that the time for his destruction had not come yet!
Real power always makes you reckon with. Therefore, it is not surprising that Hideyoshi first received the aristocratic surname Toyotomi from the emperor, and then in September 1587 also asked the imperial court for the position of adviser for Ieyasu and thus thanked him for recognizing his supremacy. Then he, together with Ieyasu, decided to destroy the Go-Hojo clan.
Once they have decided, they have done so, so it would now be possible to characterize the increased capabilities of these two rulers. And in 1590, the troops of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and all his vassals, including the army of Ieyasu, with a total number of 200,000 people surrounded the citadel of Go-Hojo and after several months of siege were able to take it. Hideyoshi again gave the new lands of the Kanto province to Tokugawa, but in return took his old ancestral possessions. The benefits were seemingly obvious, since the new lands gave him more income, but Ieyasu's power there was not too fragile, since for the local nobility he remained both a stranger and a conqueror. In addition, many lands here were empty, and there were no transport communications. However, even here Ieyasu showed himself from the best side already as an administrator. He boosted the region's economy, repaired roads, built reliable castles and opened many ports on the coast. In just ten years, a powerful economic base arose here, which subsequently ensured him victory in the struggle for the unification of the country, and then even became a new center of Japanese political life.
Mon Tokugawa
In 1592 Toyotomi Hideyoshi decided to start a war in Korea. Many samurai rushed to Korea, hoping to gain fame there. Hideyoshi was empowered that many would be killed there and tried to send Ieyasu Tokugawa there. But he managed to avoid being sent to the war, explaining that he needed to end the war with the "remnants of the Go-Hojo clan." Finally, before his death in September 1598, Hideyoshi created a Board of Trustees of five elders under his son Toyotomi Hideyori, and appointed Ieyasu Tokugawa as its head, who promised support to the Toyotomi family after the death of its head.
In such a luxurious palanquin, a daimyo was worn in Japan. (Okayama Castle Museum)
On September 18, 1598, Toyotomi Hideyoshi died, and his five-year-old son Hideyori immediately found himself in the position of the country's formal ruler. But instead of him, of course, the Council of Five Elders and the Council of Five Governors immediately began to rule. Since Ieyasu was the most influential member of the Council of Elders, he immediately decided to take advantage of the weakening of the Toyotomi clan to his advantage. He made alliances with daimyo, who during his lifetime opposed Hideyoshi, and began to intensively prepare for war.
Samurai re-enector at Matsumoto Castle.
All this resulted in a conflict and Ishida Mitsunari. It looked like a dispute between the vassals of the Toyotomi clan, but in fact it was a confrontation between Tokugawa Ieyasu, who wanted to become a shogun, and Ishida Mitsunari, who wanted to retain power for the young Toyotomi Hideyori.
Monument at the site of the Battle of Sekigahara. On the left is the Mitsunari flag, on the right is the Tokugawa.
On October 21, 1600, the "month without gods", the armies of Tokugawa and Isis met in the Sekigahara field. The battle between them ended in complete victory for Ieyasu. Ishida Mitsunari, along with his generals, was captured and executed. Tokugawa Ieyasu became the de facto ruler of Japan.
