Japan's Sengoku period was a rare chaotic era in Japan, much more intense than the chaotic world of Japan's Southern and Northern Dynasties, and in the chaotic world, there were many talents, although the Japanese country was small and widowed, but there were still many talents, the top of which were Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, the three warring states; of these three, only Toyotomi Hideyoshi was born the lowest, lacking the assistance of the lineage of the family.
So how did he fight to sit firmly in the world? In fact, although Toyotomi Hideyoshi lacks the assistance of the family members, he has a genius younger brother, a half-brother, and his younger brother is Toyotomi Hidenaga, of course, this name should have been changed later, because the Toyotomi clan only existed after Toyotomi Hideyoshi took power and took office as Guan Bai, but we are not entangled in this here, after all, this is not the point.
Toyotomi Hidenaga seems to be toyotomi Hideyoshi's "shadow samurai", has been growing up with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but he is different from the general "shadow samurai", he is a rare all-rounder, in the early days, he conquered the north and south, before the "honnoji Change", Toyotomi Hidenaga has become a daimyo with more than 65,000 stone territories, after the "Honnōji Change", he strongly supported his brother Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi was also extremely generous to this younger brother, after the Battle of Kishu, Toyotomi Hidenaga was already a super daimyō with 640,000 stones of Kii and Izumi, and then served as a general of the Shikoku Expeditionary Army, and after surrendering to Nagamasa Ibu's relatives, Toyotomi Hideyoshi received another 440,000 stone domain, with a total domain of 1 million stones, and was promoted to the rank of prime minister (senator).
And only at this time, Toyotomi Hidenaga's ability can be regarded as a real play, why? Because what he really did was to govern internal affairs and handle the relationship between monarchs and vassals, of course, this also had something to do with his status, after all, he was the younger brother of Toyotomi Hideyoshi; after pacifying Kyushu, Toyotomi Hidenaga was promoted to Dainayan and became the pillar of the Toyotomi regime, but Toyotomi Hidenaga began to fall ill frequently.
When Toyotomi Hideyoshi was seriously ill, Toyotomi Hideyoshi pushed aside the matter in his hand and ran to see him, and said that "the internal cultivator is the prime minister (Hidenaga) for the sake of Zongyi and Weimingzheng", which shows how much Toyotomi Hideyoshi trusts and depends on this brother, although he is only a half-brother, the relationship between the two is much closer than the general brother relationship.
Toyotomi Hidenaga occupied a very important position in the Toyotomi regime, and as toyotomi Hideyoshi's brother and powerful vassal, Toyotomi Hidenaga maintained a comfortable and gentle personality to serve Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Toyotomi Hideyoshi often had to ask Toyotomi Hidenaga's opinion on the decision of the event, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi's far-sighted advice had a great effect on Toyotomi Hideyoshi's decision.
Moreover, this Toyotomi Hidenaga was originally an unambitious man, and the reason why he worked hard was only to help his brother Toyotomi Hideyoshi; according to records, Toyotomi Hideyoshi knew that his brother's ambitions were not limited to Japan, so he tried to dissuade Toyotomi Hideyoshi when he was alive, and he also said: "For many years of foreign conquests, we have spent countless people and horses and money and are not convinced, so that we have not gained more than we have lost." Therefore, using more diplomatic means to make foreign countries submit and more internal affairs is the best policy for rich countries and strong troops. ”
However, after the death of Toyotomi Hidenaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi did not know whether it was because of excessive grief or no one dissuaded him, so his temperament changed drastically, and he made a series of incomprehensible things, such as forcing the "tea head" Senri to cut off his abdomen, the Korean conquest war, the death of Toyotomi Hideji and other irrational behaviors, and these things he did made the internal contradictions of the Toyotomi clan increase rapidly, laying hidden dangers for the future collapse.
If Toyotomi Hidenaga had not died so hastily, then Toyotomi Hideyoshi's plan to attack Korea would have been postponed, Chiritsu and Toyotomi Hideji might not have died, Kato Kiyomasa's confrontation with Governor Konishi and Ishida Sansei would not have become apparent and incentivized, and Tokugawa Ieyasu would not have dared to oppose at all, but nothing would have been done.
And I don't know if he was too weak or had been wounded in battle, this Toyotomi Hideyoshi did not leave a descendant until his death, worse than Toyotomi Hideyoshi; although he later inherited one of his sister's inheritances to inherit the family name, but this inherited Toyotomi Hideho was also a short-lived baby, died at the age of 17, so that toyotomi Hidenaga's branch was severed; and twenty years later, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's branch was also completely severed, and the Toyotomi clan became a short-lived surname, hurriedly coming and hurrying away.