The history of Japan has developed from the primitive era, all the way through the Jomon period, the Yayoi period, the Kofun/Yamato period, the Asuka period, the Nara period, the Heian period, the Kamakura period, and the Muromachi period to the legendary Sengoku period
For the Japanese Sengoku period, we are more familiar with the Japanese Sengoku warlords, what Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Uesugi Kenshin, Mori Motone, Takeda Shingen, Hattori Hanzo this vote, and the entire first half of the Japanese Sengoku period is the most brilliant is the legendary Oda Nobunaga
A famous general of the Japanese Sengoku
Many friends familiar with Japanese history say that Oda Nobunaga is simply the Japanese version of Cao Cao, not only the social era background is very similar (the division and chaos in the last years of the Great Unification Dynasty), but also the historical mission is similar (ending the war and strife to dominate the world), and the ending of the two is also very similar (the ambition is not paid to die first), and more importantly, the personality of the two people also has a similarity
Nobunaga and Cao Cao
Regarding the similarities between Oda Nobunaga and Cao Cao, we will talk to you a little bit later in the article (only from the perspective of laughter after tea and dinner [laughing and crying] After all, it is impossible to compare these two people together according to academics), and in this issue, our focus is on how Oda Nobunaga unified Japan step by step (and eventually died if he did not succeed)
That is, watch the Score of the Japanese Azuchi Era for a long time!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="8" > the Azuchi Taoshan period (1573-1603).</h1>
We talked about the end of the Muromachi shogunate and the Muromachi period in Japan in the last issue, and then Japan entered a historical period known as the "Azuchi-Momoyama Period", which basically became synonymous with Japan's Sengoku period
So why say "basic"? Because the Sengoku period in Japan in a broad sense begins with the Onin Rebellion of 1467, and ends with the elimination of the Toyotomi clan by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1615 (it is said that the Sekigahara War of 1600)
Therefore, the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1573-1603) was actually wrapped in the timeline by the Warring States period, which radiated to the end of the Muromachi period and the beginning of the Edo period.
Even the smaller Azuchi Momoyama period can be divided into the "Azuchi period" (i.e., the Oda Nobunaga era from 1573 to 1582) and the "Momoyama period" (i.e., the toyotomi Hideyoshi era from 1582 to 1603).
Oda Nobunaga
Therefore, the Azuchi Momoyama period in Japanese history is also known as the Oita era, that is, the era when Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi dominated Japan. Oda Nobunaga's Azuchi Castle and Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Momoyama Castle (also known as "Fushimi Castle") became the source of the name "Azuchi Momoyama Period".
Momoyama Castle
Of course, Japan's Sengoku period span is a little longer, but in any case, the main trend in this period of Japanese history was from the division of the Sengoku period to the unification of the Toyotomi and Tokugawa periods, during which Oda Nobunaga undoubtedly played a huge role
Just like Cao Cao during the period of the division of the Eastern Han Dynasty, although cao boss or the great demon king Oda Nobunaga did not finally complete the hegemony of the world (both of them also unified almost 1/3 of the country), but opened the way for future long-term unity
Map of the situation in Japan during the Oda Nobunaga period
This is why Cao Cao did not usurp the throne as emperor, nor did he establish a unified dynasty, but he could enjoy such a high status in the ranking of emperors in ancient China (Cao Cao may be a little worse than the Qin Emperor Han Wu Tang Zong Song Zu, but the rank of Song Taizong, Qing Gaozong, ming Chengzu is still not a big problem)
Cao Cao
Back to Oda Nobunaga, his path to origin, rise and unification is also full of twists and turns, ups and downs, and full of legends, and when it comes to Oda Nobunaga's life experience, we may need to turn the timeline forward a little, back to the era of the last years of the Muromachi era...
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="21" > origin</h1>
Oda Nobunaga was born in Owari Kuni, Japan, and was named Master Yoshi when he was a child, and was the eldest son of Oda Nobunaga, one of the three branches of the Owari Guardian Dai (the second eldest in the family, and there is also an older brother Oda Nobuhiro)
The ruins of That Ancient Wild Castle
As the eldest son, Oda Nobunaga, who was only 6 years old, became the lord of Nagun Castle (the opening resources were abundant [cover his face]), so Oda Nobunaga was unscrupulous and idle from an early age, picking peaches from trees, fishing in the river, smashing neighbors' glass, breaking nets on the upper floor, and so on (similar to Cao Cao's childhood [laughing and crying])
Therefore, no one had a good feeling for him, in the eyes of the villagers, this was the proper incarnated demon boy Xiao Nezha, and even his mother did not like to look at him in the end. Of course, the more crucial thing is that Oda Nobunaga's father, Oda Nobunaga, was often angry and lamented, and Oda Nobunaga also received the title of "Owari's Big Fool"
Junior Nobunaga
Later, Oda Nobunaga died of a stroke due to excessive drunkenness under the distress of his powerful enemy Imakawa Yoshimoto, and Oda Nobunaga succeeded him as the governor of the family, but the Oda family's important ministers Hayashi Hideharu, Hayashi Tongji, Shibata Katsuya, and others planned to abolish the unruly Oda Nobunaga and establish Nobunaga's younger brother Oda Nobunaga, who was known for his cleverness, as lord of the Oda family.
For this reason, Oda Nobunaga drew Mori Kaisei, Sasasa Narimasa, Kawajiri Hidetaka and others to begin to fight each other, of course, in the end, Oda Nobunaga laughed to the end.
Portrait of Oda Nobunaga
During this period, Owari's power to protect the Spoo clan began to decline, and Owari's power eventually fell into the hands of Oda Nobunaga, who was Oda Nobunaga's boss.
Through a series of means, Oda Nobunaga not only solved the internal problems of the family's cannibalism, but also seized power step by step, and eventually became the leader of the Oda family.
Oda family pattern
Eventually, Oda Nobunaga established his dominance over the entire Owari Kingdom in 1559, which became the initial capital of Oda Nobunaga's beginnings in the Sengoku period!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="34" > expansion</h1>
After the conquest of Owari Kingdom, Oda Nobunaga did not have time to rest, and in 1554, Imakawa Yoshimoto, who was next to him and powerful, formed the "Kojun Xiang Three Kingdoms Alliance" with Takeda Shingen, the guardian of the Kai Kingdom, and Hojo Clan Yasumi, the lord of Odawara Castle of the Sagami Kingdom, and actively planned to march west.
Yoshimoto Imagawa
Therefore, shortly after Oda Nobunaga established the Owari Kingdom, the Tokaido daimyō Imakawa Yoshimoto led an army into the territory of the Owari Kingdom, and it is said that more than 20,000 troops were gathered at that time, which was not easy in the island country of Japan, which was small in population, small in size, and scarce in resources.
On May 19, 1560, Oda Nobunaga led 4,000 soldiers to meet the enemy, coinciding with a sudden heavy rain in the area around the barrel pan. Oda Nobunaga then led a large army to sneak into Imagawa Yoshimoto in the barrel narrow room, and imagawa Yoshimoto was in chaos, and even the commander was killed, so the Imagawa army was defeated
Barrel slits
This famous battle of barrels and pans, which won fewer victories and more, achieved Oda Nobunaga's prestige (similar to cao cao's battle of Guandu with Yuan Shao). Oda Nobunaga then expanded rapidly in central Japan and, laying the foundation for the future power to control the japanese central government.
After the war, Oda Nobunaga sent men to the Mikawa Kingdom to privately seek peace with Matsudaira Motoyasu (i.e., Tokugawa Ieyasu), and the two armies eventually withdrew from the border. At the same time, Oda Nobunaga also invited Matsudaira Motoyasu to Cheiseo Castle in Owari to conclude a covenant, known in history as the "Cheongju Alliance"
Cheongju League
Oda Nobunaga, after the Battle of The Barrel Pan, used various means to incorporate mino kuni into his territory. For a time, he became the daimyō of Owari and Mino when Oda Nobunaga was only 33 years old
After acquiring Mino, Oda Nobunaga renamed the mouth of the old stronghold of Mino Province to Gifu, which is very interesting: on the one hand, there is the meaning of replacing Yin Shang Tianxia with the Western Zhou Fengming Qishan, and there is also the name of Qufu, the hometown of the sage Confucius.
Gifu Castle
This shows that at this time, Oda Nobunaga had completed the transformation of another warlord to unify the world, and sure enough, Oda Nobunaga immediately began to use the seal of "Tendo Bubu" and officially took the unification of all Of Japan as the ultimate goal.
Even Emperor Masanomachi at that time gave Oda Nobunaga the title of "Peerless General of Ancient and Modern Times" as a sign of praise, and Oda Nobunaga began the pace of conquering Japan's unified whole country
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="50" > the road to unification</h1>
In 1565, the assassination of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the thirteenth shogun of the shogunate, occurred at the Central Imperial Court of Japan (see the previous issue for details), and Ashikaga Yoshiei, the cousin of the Kenho shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki, was proclaimed the fourteenth shogun (puppet) by the Miyoshi clan.
Ashikaga Yoshiaki's death did not end the bloodshed, and Matsunaga and others further tried to assassinate Ashikaga Yoshiaki, ashikaga Yoshiaki's brother, and finally Ashikaga Yoshiaki escaped from Kyoto with the support of Hosokawa Fujitaka, Wada Tsushimasa and other staff
Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who had escaped from Kyoto, managed to appeal to the powerful in various places to fight against the Miyoshi clan. He first defected to Asakura Yoshiaki in Echizen Province, but Asakura Yoshiaki's inaction left Ashikaga Yoshiaki to find another way
Ashikaga Yoshiaki
In 1568 Ashikaga Yoshiaki began to approach Mino's Oda Nobunaga, and Oda Nobunaga eventually promised Ashikaga Yoshiaki to go on a crusade against the Miyoshi clan. At the same time, he also married his adopted daughter Yukihime to Takeda Katsurai, the fourth son of Takeda Shingen, and thus formed an alliance with Takeda Shingen, the daimyō of the Kai Sengoku period.
Later, when Yukihime died in childbirth, Oda Nobunaga had his sister-in-law Oda Nobunaga and Takeda Shingen's sixth daughter, Matsuhime, make a marriage contract, once again consolidating this alliance for external stability and necessary allied assistance
Shingen Takeda
After completing a series of layouts, Oda Nobunaga established Ashikaga Yoshiaki as the fifteenth shogun of the Muromachi shogunate (and of course the last shogun of the Muromachi shogunate) in the name of the great righteousness of the Ten ten-year Cloth Takeshi, and then sent troops
The seal of the world's cloth
Oda Nobunaga first fought a fierce battle with Rokkaku Yoshihito and Rokkaku Yoshiharu, and finally destroyed the Rokkaku clan. After pointing directly to Kyoto, Yoshiji Miyoshi, Matsunaga Hideyoshi, and others were expected to submit to the wind.
Oda Nobunaga occupied Kyoto and took over the government after only half a month of his army, and then Oda Nobunaga used the title of Ashikaga Yoshiaki to establish a so-called Oda regime! From then on, Oda Nobunaga began his "command of the general to order Japan" (Cao Cao: This I know [treacherous laugh])
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="62" > nobunaga surrounds the net</h1>
In January 1569, Miyoshi, Saito Ryuko, and others took advantage of the gap between Oda Nobunaga's main forces returning to Mino Province to raid the Rokujo Shrine, where Ashikaga Yoshiaki was located, or the Rokujo Battle.
Upon hearing the news, Oda Nobunaga immediately turned around and marched in the snow, reaching Kyoto in only two days, of course, at this time Kyoto had already repelled the Miyoshi Saito Army because of the battle between Asai Nagamasa and Wise Mitsuhide.
Therefore, after entering the castle, Oda Nobunaga executed all the cadres. Subsequently, 9 articles of the Imperial Household Were established, followed by 7 more, which weakened the shogun's power, increased Oda Nobunaga's control over the shogun's shogunate, and caused shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki to break with Oda Nobunaga
Subsequently, the combined forces of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu destroyed each castle one by one, which betrayed the former alliance agreement, so later when attacking Kanasaki Castle, Asai Nagamasa rebelled, and Oda Nobunaga immediately sensed that it was not good and quickly retreated, resulting in chaos in the coalition forces.
Oda Nobunaga himself even fled back to Kyoto after a bloody battle between Ikeda Tsuneyuki, Mitsuhide Akira, Kinoshita Hideyoshi (i.e., Toyotomi Hideyoshi), and others, which is known as the Battle of Kanazaki. It is said that when Oda Nobunaga returned to Kyoto, there were only ten people left at his side.
Schematic of the retreat of the Battle of Kanazaki
At this time, the shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki seized the opportunity to issue an order to overthrow Oda Nobunaga, and gathered forces such as Asakura Yoshikei, Asai Nagamasa, Takeda Shingen, Mori Keigen, miyoshi, and even the temple forces such as Mount Hiei Enriji Temple, Ishiyama Honganji Temple, and Zaga-ji, forming the famous "Nobunaga Siege Network"
Nobunaga enveloping net (brown)
In order to break through the encirclement, Oda Nobunaga decided to start with Asai Nagamasa, and in June 1570, Oda Nobunaga joined forces with Tokugawa Ieyasu at Omi Sister River Kawahara to fight the combined forces of Asai and Asakura, known in history as the Battle of Sister River. In the end, the combined forces of Asai and Asakura were defeated.
In August of the same year, Oda Nobunaga sent troops against miyoshi sanren, and when Oda Nobunaga was fighting against Miyoshi santo in Settsu kingdom, 30,000 allied troops, including Asai Nagamasa, Asakura Yoshikei, and Enryaji, began to attack Omi Sakamoto, and eventually Oda Nobunaga's army was defeated by numerical inferiority
In this battle, even Nobunaga's retainer and famous general Mori Kecheng and Oda Nobunaga's younger brother Oda Nobunaga were killed. Oda Nobunaga returned to Omi overnight. Oda Nobunaga and the combined forces of Asai and Asakura formed a confrontation.
At this time, Ise Nagashima always raised the banner of rebellion, Oda Nobunaga's brother Oda Nobunaga's brother Oda Nobunaga, and Shigeto Sakai Masayoshi were killed (it seems that Oda Nobunaga's brother was not so good [cover his face]), and Oda Nobunaga fell into a dilemma.
In the end, Oda Nobunaga had to ask Emperor Masamune to issue an edict, and finally reconciled with Asai and Asakura to relieve the predicament. The following year, Oda Nobunaga set fire to Mount Hiei's Enryaji Temple, which was still resisting, and the burning of Mount Hiei became a controversial event in Oda Nobunaga's life
Fire to Mount Hiei
After that, with Oda Nobunaga's "slowing down" and breaking one by one, the independent forces surrendered to Oda Nobunaga. Later, Takeda Shingen of Kai Kingdom also echoed Ashikaga Yoshiaki's invitation to send troops, and eventually led 30,000 horses to attack Oda Nobunaga
This Takeda Shingen is not an ordinary person, he is a famous politician and military figure in Japan during the Sengoku period, with great military talent, known as the "Tiger of Kai". He also held the title of "First General of the Warring States", which was later praised as "(Japanese) First Warrior of the Warring States".
If Oda Nobunaga is likened to Cao Cao, then this Takeda Shingen is very similar to Zhuge Liang and Zhou Gongjin. Therefore, under the offensive of Takeda Shingen, the Oda side of the coalition army was gradually defeated (mainly Tokugawa Ieyasu's army)
Seeing that the situation was not developing correctly, Oda Nobunaga led his army to merge with Tokugawa Ieyasu and fought the famous Battle of Mikatahara at Togae, which resulted in the combined forces of Oda and Tokugawa being defeated by the Takeda army and had to retreat to Gifu.
In 1573, Takeda Shingen continued to lead his army westward, and the Kyoto general Ashikaga Yoshiaki raised an army with the assistance of Miyoshi Yoshiji and Matsunaga Hideyoshi, and Oda Nobunaga was attacked on both sides for a time.
Later, it was Emperor Masakincho who issued an edict to reconcile Oda Nobunaga and Ashikaga Yoshiaki to relieve the crisis (the Japanese Emperor's face was also really big [cover his face]).
Emperor Masakin-cho
Immediately after the ongoing march, Takeda Shingen suddenly fell ill and died in the army, and according to Takeda Shingen's last words, he was kept secret for three years after his death. The remains were secretly brought back to the Kai Kingdom
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="87" > the emergence of hegemony</h1>
The death of Takeda Shingen was undoubtedly good news for Oda Nobunaga, causing Nobunaga to gasp. Oda Nobunaga then defeated the opposition one by one, and also solved the Muromachi shogunate, ending the history of the Muromachi period once and for all
Oda Nobunaga then began a crusade against the miyoshi who had repeatedly rebelled and the Asakura clan, who had always looked down on them unfavorably.
In the end, after another twist and turn, Oda Nobunaga eliminated many opposition forces, including the Miyoshi clan, and eventually all the forces involved in Nobunaga's encirclement network were eliminated one by one by Oda Nobunaga
Then came the process of Oda Nobunaga's constant attacks– counterinsurgency – expansion. At the end of 1575, Oda Nobunaga served as the Great Commander of the Right Guard.
In January 1576, Oda Nobunaga began directing the construction of Azuchi Castle on the shores of Lake Biwa. In 1579 AD, the magnificent, five-story, seven-story, luxurious and splendid Antu Castle was finally built. From then on, Oda Nobunaga began to dominate the world from this base
In 1581, after quelling various forces and internal rebellions, Oda Nobunaga's power entered its heyday. But the heyday is often followed by decline
In the summer of 1582, Oda Nobunaga prepared to send troops to attack Nagamasa Ibu of Shikoku. At this time, Tokugawa Ieyasu arrived at Azuchi Castle for the addition of banquets to the Suruga Domain. Nobunaga sent Mitsuhide to be in charge of reception.
Wise light show
As a result, Hideyoshi Hashiba (Toyotomi Hideyoshi), who was attacking Takamatsu Castle, asked for reinforcements, and Oda Nobunaga sent Mitsuhide to help. However, at this time, the wise Mitsuhide has already had a disagreement with Oda Nobunaga because of various incidents (we can open a separate issue about their feud another day)
Oda Nobunaga himself was staying at Honnoji Temple in preparation for an expedition, but he did not expect that the wise Mitsuhide, who was supposed to support Hashiba Hideyoshi, suddenly appeared in Kyoto with his army and suddenly attacked Honnoji Temple on June 2.
Honnoji's change
At that time, Oda Nobunaga was only about a hundred people around him, and the disparity in troops was so great that even Nobunaga himself grew up with weapons, but eventually returned to the room wounded due to being outnumbered, and Oda Nobunaga committed suicide by setting fire to himself in the absence of hope of a breakthrough, at the age of 49.
Eventually Honnoji Temple was destroyed by fire, and popular versions believe that Oda Nobunaga died in the temple, but no nobunaga's body could be found anyway, which gave later generations a lot of speculation and reverie. But in any case, the Oda Nobunaga era is over, and along with his unfinished hegemony...
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="107" > summary</h1>
After Oda Nobunaga's death, for a time the Oda forces were in constant civil strife, and in order to seize the supreme power, the various forces carried out a series of scuffles, and finally ushered in the second stage of the Japanese Azuchi Momoyama era, that is, the Momoyama era!
So what was the situation in the Momoyama era? How did Toyotomi Hideyoshi succeed in ascending to the throne? Will Toyotomi Hideyoshi be able to complete the hegemony of unifying Japan?
Stay tuned for this series, and stay tuned for the next issue!